


Teach Me to Forget

by Sabeley



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Bottom Even Bech Næsheim, Bottom Isak Valtersen, Classroom Sex, Drunk Isak, Even's POV, M/M, Masturbation, Mild Somnophilia, Pining, Sex Tapes, Sexting, Sharing Clothes, Side Yousana, Teacher-Student Relationship, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Versatile Evak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-23 11:03:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11401215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sabeley/pseuds/Sabeley
Summary: Even is the TA for Isak's Intro to Media Studies class. If only he'd known thatbeforethey slept together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The age difference here is canon. Even's 24(ish) and Isak's 22(ish). As far as the teacher-student relationship is concerned, nothing sexual happens while they are aware of the situation but Isak is a little shit who likes to tease (and send dick pics, apparently), so if that's not your thing, you might want to skip this one.
> 
> Russian translation available [here](https://ficbook.net/readfic/6040708) by [levenus_supremus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/levenus_supremus)

Even wasted twenty minutes of his life trying to convince his friends that not only was he not upset that his ex-girlfriend had recently gotten engaged, but also that even if he were, going to a bar would not help. He ended up at a bar anyway. A _college_ bar. During the first week of classes after winter break. 

“Despacito” was playing for the fifth time that night and while that was certainly annoying, what bothered him more was the sheer volume of people crammed into the relatively small space. The bar itself was surrounded by a crowd four-people deep and it just kept growing. Even had no doubt they were breaking some sort of fire code, but no one seemed to care. It was loud, it was hot, and between the noise and the people, he was finding it hard to concentrate. 

Luckily (or not, depending on who you asked), they had arrived early enough to snag a table in the very back corner of the room, which Even was guarding with Yousef. People kept staggering into his chair on their way to the bathroom, but other than that, it was set off from the main bar area far enough that he was able to avoid the worst of the chaos. Neither he nor Yousef were big drinkers so they had long ago lost interest in their friends’ drunken antics and were halfway through an elaborate escape plan when Mikael plopped down in his abandoned seat across from them. 

“Dude, you know that guy you’ve been pining after all year? The one who—and I quote—‘looks like a fucking angel?’” 

Even’s eyes widened and he threw a pointed glare from Mikael to Yousef, who just chuckled and took a sip of his Coke to hide a grin. “I told you that in confidence,” he hissed. 

“Whatever,” Mikael said, rolling his eyes. “He’s standing over there.” He pointed into the thick of the crowd without even looking and although there were probably a hundred people in that general direction, Even spotted the boy instantly. He was leaning against the far wall talking to a friend with a wide smile on his face, and his golden curls were reflecting the neon lights from the bar like a halo. In that moment, he really did look like an angel. He was holding a drink in one hand, but as Even watched, he accidentally used that hand to gesticulate wildly, causing liquid to slosh everywhere. It was so unbelievably endearing that Even felt his heart clench in his chest. 

He’d never met the boy before, but their commute to campus last semester had them crossing paths almost daily. He hadn’t seen him once since classes resumed and he had started to worry that maybe the boy graduated. He was relieved to find that he hadn’t. 

“Fuck,” Yousef groaned, pulling Even’s attention back to his friends. When he looked across the table, Yousef’s head was already buried in his hands. “Is that Sana?” 

“You still haven’t asked her out?” Mikael chuckled and Even couldn’t help but smile at the color darkening Yousef’s cheeks. 

“I’ve tried, okay?” he snapped, lifting his head. “It’s harder than it looks.” 

Mikael looked between the two boys like they just might be the most pathetic human beings he had ever had the misfortune to meet. “You two are ridiculous. It isn’t fucking rocket science.” Then, before either of them could stop him, he stood from his seat and began waving his arms frantically, trying to get Sana’s attention from across the bar. 

“What are you doing?” Yousef hissed. “Mikael, sit down.” 

Even had heard Elias joke once that Sana’s hijab gave her psychic powers and honestly, that was the only possible explanation for why Mikael’s summons actually caught her attention. She turned, locked eyes with him, and then shook her head in disbelief. Undeterred by her clear lack of interest, he waved her over. 

“Seriously, Mikael? I’m going to fucking kill you.” Yousef’s cheeks were an even brighter pink now and although Even wasn’t one to blush easily, he could feel his own heart picking up the pace in his chest. Mikael smirked down at the two boys and when Even looked across the room again, Sana had turned her attention back to Angel Boy, reaching out to grab his arm and silencing him mid-sentence. She pulled him close and spoke directly into his ear, pointing across the room at them. Even could tell she was yelling to be heard over the music, but he couldn’t catch even a whisper of it over the din from the bar. 

Angel Boy turned in their direction, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but Sana didn’t give him time to argue before she was pulling him across the room towards their half-empty table. They were almost there when it finally sank in that Even was about to meet the boy he’d been fantasizing about for months. He couldn’t remember the last time he had butterflies in his stomach, but he certainly had them now. 

Before he knew it, the boy was standing right in front of him, closer than he had ever been before, and Even was taken aback by just how beautiful he was. He was taller and more muscular than he’d seemed from a distance, but despite all of his hard lines, there was a softness about him as well: his golden curls, his long eyelashes, his plush lips begging to be kissed. For the first time all night, Even cursed the dim lighting in the bar because it wasn’t enough. He wanted to see more of this boy. He wanted to be able to memorize him, just in case he never saw him again. 

“Hi, boys,” Sana greeted and then made the necessary introductions. “This is Isak. Isak, these are some of my brother’s idiot friends: Mikael, Even, and Yousef.” She pointed to each boy as she said his name, but once Isak turned to Even, he didn’t look away. He scanned him up and down, eyes pausing on the pansexual pride button he had pinned to his jean jacket. Even resisted the urge to puff out his chest to make it even more obvious. Isak met his gaze and smirked. “Can we sit here? We’ve been standing for like an hour.” 

Yousef was quick to agree to her request, reaching across the table to clear some empty beer bottles from the seat in front of him. “Yeah, no, please. Have a seat.” He was obviously flustered, but Sana was nice enough not to comment on it, taking the seat he’d prepared for her without question. Isak stayed standing, watching the scene with an amused smile, but eventually plopped down into the chair at the head of the table next to Even. 

“Hi,” Isak greeted, quiet enough that only Even could hear. 

“Hi,” he agreed and then, completely unbidden, he felt himself smile so wide that his cheeks strained against it. Isak returned his smile with narrowed eyes, silently asking Even what he was so happy about. Even just shrugged. 

“I assume Elias is around here somewhere?” Sana asked, drawing Even’s attention back to her. All three boys nodded, but Mikael was the one that answered her unasked question. 

“He was making out with some blonde last time I saw him.” 

“Lovely,” Sana rolled her eyes. “What are you losers doing here, anyway?” Even wasn’t sure whether she meant here as in the bar, or here as in a wobbly table in the back of the room, but Yousef must have assumed the former because he barreled on before Even could stop him. 

“Even’s ex-girlfriend just got engaged, so we’re trying to find him a rebound.” And _what_? Even threw his hands into the air in exasperation as Mikael started guffawing across from him. “Sorry,” Yousef winced, throwing a guilty look in Isak’s direction when he realized the implication of what he had just said. 

“You’re doing a great job,” Sana noted, looking at the distinct lack of people surrounding them. 

“I am _not_ looking for a rebound,” Even cried and then continued to explain himself almost desperately. “I broke up with Sonja like five years ago. I’m fine. I’m happy for her.” He glanced in Isak’s direction, hoping he had convinced him, but Isak just raised an eyebrow in amusement. 

“You just keep telling yourself that, man,” Mikael joked. 

Even shook his head in disbelief. “I hate you both.” 

“What about you?” Yousef asked after a few seconds of silence, looking between Sana and Isak. “What’re you doing here?” 

“Bar crawl,” Isak answered, raising his beer bottle to his lips only to find that it was empty and pulling it away with a pout. Even thought it might possibly be the cutest thing he’d ever seen. 

“The rest of the pre-med seniors wanted to do a bar crawl to kick off our final semester or whatever,” Sana said, waving the question off. “It was fun for about fifteen minutes. Now I want to go home.” 

Even nodded like he was listening, but he really wasn’t. Instead he was watching Isak spin his empty beer bottle on the table like he was playing a game. “I could get you another,” he found himself offering and Isak turned to him in confusion. “Another drink?” he clarified, pointing towards the herd still gathered around the bar. His own half-finished beer had been lukewarm for over an hour but if Isak wanted another, he would gladly brave the crowd for him. 

Isak smirked over at him. “Nah,” he said, spinning the bottle again. “I think I want to stay sober for this.” His eyes roamed Even’s body, making his intentions perfectly clear, and Even felt himself harden in his jeans just as the bottle came to a stop pointing straight at him. 

“I’m going to the bathroom and then I’m leaving,” Sana announced, her chair scraping against the hardwood floor as she stood. As soon as she was out of sight, Yousef dropped his head to the table with a groan. 

“What is wrong with me?” he said, his voice muffled in his arms. 

“I mean, I’ve seen you throw actual grass at her before, so this was an improvement,” Mikael pointed out. 

Isak perked up at that. “Oh, you’re _that_ Yousef,” he laughed. 

Yousef sat back up immediately. “ _That_ Yousef? _That_ Yousef?! Fuck my life, seriously.” Then, “Wait. You two aren’t on a date, are you?” He looked genuinely worried about the possibility. His muscles were tensed, already expecting bad news. 

“Me and Sana?” Isak asked incredulously. “No. God, no. I’m gay. Sana and I are just friends. I’ve known her since high school.” Yousef breathed an audible sigh of relief and although he tried to hide it, Even did as well. There it was: confirmation that he wasn’t just imagining things. 

“Perfect,” Yousef smiled, just as Sana walked back up to the table. 

“Okay, I’m leaving,” she said without preamble. “Isak, you coming?” 

Isak glanced from Sana to Even, his bottom lip pulled between his teeth, appraising them carefully. “Um…” He turned back to Sana, an apologetic look on his face. “I’m not ready to leave just yet.” Even’s heart soared. 

“Of course you’re not,” Sana said with a fond eye roll, but she didn’t sound mad. Isak opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, Yousef interrupted. 

“I can walk you home,” he said, voice a little louder than necessary even in the crowded bar. All four of them turned to him in surprise and his cheeks flushed red again. “If you want.” 

“Oh, um…” Sana started, clearly caught off guard by the offer. She looked to Isak, who had his eyes widened meaningfully, and then shrugged. “Okay, then.” Yousef scurried out of his chair like she might change her mind if he gave her long enough to think about it, and she shot one last wary glance at Isak before leading him outside. 

“They’re cute,” Isak decided with a chuckle, watching them until they were out of sight. He then turned back to Even with a smile and Even instantly got lost in his green eyes. It was like he was hypnotized. 

“ _You’re_ cute,” he countered, spitting the words out before he even had time to process them. A faint pink blush spread across Isak’s cheeks and any embarrassment Even might have felt disappeared at the sight. He _was_ cute. He was more than cute. He was beautiful and he deserved to hear it. 

“And that’s my cue,” Mikael interrupted his thoughts. Even looked up, surprised to find that his friend was still sitting there at all. “I’ll see you tomorrow, man. Isak, it was nice to meet you.” He gave the two of them a small salute and then wove his way back into the thick of the crowd. 

Isak watched him go and Even watched Isak, so when Isak turned back around, Even was already staring at him. “Hi,” Isak greeted once more, his cheeks still red. 

“Hi,” Even smiled, and then they sat there in silence, neither knowing quite what to say. When the silence became awkward, Even opened his mouth to try to fill the dead air, but Isak beat him to it, scooting his chair closer to Even’s so that he didn’t have to scream to be heard over the music. 

“So, are you a student?” he asked, looking up at Even from beneath his dark eyelashes. Their legs were tangled together underneath the table, sharing the cramped space, but neither of them bothered to move. 

“Yeah,” Even said. “I graduate with my master’s in May.” 

“What in?” Isak picked his beer bottle up before remembering that it was empty and setting it back down again. Even passed his across the table and watched Isak smile in delight as he took a sip. 

“Media Studies,” he answered. “I want to be a director.” Isak pursed his lips like he was impressed and Even felt a spark of pride ignite in his chest. “You’re pre-med?” he asked, remembering Sana’s comment from earlier. Isak nodded. “I think I’ve seen you around.” 

Isak smiled at that and looked over at Even, clearly amused. “Yeah,” he agreed with a chuckle. “I’ve seen you ‘see me around.’” 

Even felt his heart stop for one brief second. “Oh, god,” he groaned because he had done a lot of staring. A lot. A good four months of staring. The butterflies in his stomach were starting to feel more like a tornado. 

“No,” Isak laughed, smiling up at Even to try to staunch his embarrassment. He reached across the table to lazily draw patterns on the back of Even’s hand. “You were cute.” It was Even’s turn to blush. “But, hey? I was lying to Sana earlier. There is nothing I want more than to get out of this bar right now, so…” He trailed off, eyes lit up with mischief. 

It took Even a beat too long to realize what Isak was trying to ask him. “Oh, um, yeah. My apartment’s right around the corner if you want to—” 

“Perfect,” Isak grinned. He took Even by the hand and stood, pulling him out of his seat and dragging him through the bar, their fingers laced together. When they stepped outside into the crisp winter air, the world fell blissfully quiet and Even heard himself sigh in relief. Next to him, Isak laughed and squeezed his hand tighter, pulling him into his side. 

“Not a fan of bars?” 

Even shook his head. “Not even a little bit.” He looked down at Isak, whose nose was already flushed red from the cold, and smiled. “But things are starting to look up.” 

His apartment building really was right around the corner, but conversation flowed easily during their short walk. Isak was curious about what kinds of classes a “director-in-training” took and then asked all kinds of questions about the film Even was working on for his showcase at the end of the year. They held hands for the whole journey, despite the biting cold, and Isak had taken to running his thumb over Even’s skin every few seconds. It was an innocent touch, but still somehow intimate. 

It was only when they reached the door to Even’s apartment and had to separate for him to pull his keys out of his pocket, that the reality of the situation started to sink in. He hated to be presumptuous, but he was 97% sure he was about to get laid by a fucking angel and he didn’t quite know what to do with that information. Every nerve ending in his body felt extra sensitive, like he was already anticipating Isak’s touch. 

It took him three tries to unlock his door and he could almost feel Isak smirking behind his back at his ineptitude. When he finally got it open, he ushered the younger boy in first and flipped the light switch to illuminate his small studio apartment. 

“Nice,” Isak said, walking farther into the room and looking around like Even’s apartment was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. He stopped in front of the wall where Even had taped some of his drawings, and while he was sufficiently distracted looking through those, Even hastily grabbed his loose clothes strewn across the floor and tossed them into the laundry hamper. “Funny. Did you draw these?” 

Even nodded. “Do you want something to drink? Water? Beer that doesn’t suck?” 

Isak turned away from the wall and shook his head, staring over at Even with a determined look in his eyes. Then, without a word, he crossed the room in two large strides and pressed his lips to Even’s. The force of the kiss pushed Even back a step, but as soon as he realized what was happening, he wrapped his arms tightly around Isak’s waist and reeled him in closer, deepening the kiss. 

He’d barely had a chance to enjoy the velvet-like feel of Isak’s lips on his before the boy was pulling away. Even chased after him, shameless, and stole another long, slow kiss. “Even,” Isak panted, forcing their lips apart. Even hadn’t noticed before but Isak’s left hand was on his cheek, stroking it like he was something precious. “I’m not reading this wrong, right?” Even smiled widely and shook his head, leaning down to kiss the boy again. 

Slowly, Isak began backing Even towards the bed, their lips never separating. Heat was building between them impossibly fast and they were both growing harder by the second. He knew that they should stop—knew that they should probably talk about what was happening and what it meant—but he was too horny to think straight and stopping now seemed almost sacrilegious. They would have plenty of time to talk tomorrow. And the next day. And the rest of forever. 

The back of Even’s knees hit the bed and Isak finally pulled away. Even felt his cock jump at the sight of the boy’s lips, already wet and swollen. “Look,” Isak said, running his fingers through his blonde curls. For the first time all night, he looked shy and uncertain. Even reached out and cupped his face in his heads, preening a bit when Isak leaned into his touch like a cat. He turned his green eyes on Even and there was a softness to them that he hadn’t seen before. “I don’t do one-night stands, okay? But I really want to fuck you.” 

Even smiled and leaned down to give Isak a chaste kiss on the lips. “I don’t do one-night stands either,” he promised. “Once wouldn’t be nearly enough.” 

Isak’s laugh filled the room, making everything around them seem brighter, and Even pulled him close once more, his hand snaking beneath Isak’s shirt to brush against bare skin. “We’re wearing too many clothes,” Isak whispered against Even’s lips and Even couldn’t agree more. They kicked off their shoes and socks, as if they were in a race to see who could get naked first, but as soon as that was done, the distance between them became too much and they were drawn back together like magnets. 

The kiss was sloppy as they worked to divest each other of their clothes, but there was something so perfect about the imperfections. Their jackets and shirts came off first in a tangle of fabric and then they stood in front of each other, bare chests heaving. Even took in Isak’s creamy skin, dotted with moles that he wanted to map like constellations, and gave up on keeping his hands to himself. 

“You’re so fucking hot,” he breathed, kissing him again before Isak could argue. Isak smiled against his lips and then pushed Even down onto the bed. 

“Too many clothes,” he repeated, pointing down to Even’s jeans as he began to unbutton his own. Even didn’t need to be told twice. He lifted his hips and dragged his jeans down his long legs, tossing them to the floor and leaving him in only a pair of faded red boxers. 

He wondered if Isak expected him to push his boxers down as well and looked to him for guidance, only to find that the boy was hopping around on one foot, tangled in the leg of his pants. Even couldn’t help but laugh and Isak halted his efforts to undress himself so he that could give him an exasperated grin. 

Even couldn’t remember the last time sex had been something more to him than just getting off, but with Isak, he was having _fun_. They were laughing, joking with each other. Sex had always seemed so serious before, but there was something about Isak that set him at ease. Something that told him that he would be doing this again many more times, so if it wasn’t perfect this time, he would get another chance. Hundreds more chances. 

Apparently giving up, Isak crashed onto the bed where he could pull his pants off a little easier. 

“Damn things,” he muttered, smirking over at Even. “They’re too fucking tight.” 

“Trust me,” Even said, reaching out to run his hand over the expanse of Isak’s back. “I’m not complaining.” 

Pants finally off, Isak lunged at Even, knocking him back against the pillows and climbing up his body until he was straddling his waist. Even grabbed ahold of his hips to hold him in place. He was well past the point of being comfortably hard and judging by the outline of Isak’s cock straining against his boxers and the wet spot on the fabric, Even guessed that he was too. He thrust up against Isak’s ass to get some friction and couldn’t help but moan at the feel of him. 

Isak leaned forward, kissing him first on the lips and then down his neck and across his collarbone, but just when Even had worked up a nice rhythm, Isak lifted himself onto his knees, and took the friction away. 

“Lube,” he said and it took Even a second to recognize it as a command. 

“Oh.” He twisted his body so that he could reach into the drawer of his bedside table. As he was digging through the junk he kept in there, he felt Isak trace a line down his cock over his boxers. “Fuck,” Even hissed, momentarily abandoning his search. 

“Lube,” Isak said again, but he looked pleased with himself. By the time Even had managed to fish the lube and condoms out of the very back of his drawer, Isak had stripped him of his boxers and Even was laying in front of him, now completely exposed. It was exhilarating. 

“Fuck,” Isak hissed looking him over. Even wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he just made grabby hands towards Isak’s boxers, begging him to take them off. 

“Shh,” Isak said, brushing him off with a smile. “Patience.” And then, when he saw the pout on Even’s face, “Dude, I’ve got like no self-control. If I take these off now, I’m going to jerk myself off because you are the fucking hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. So just let me do this, okay?” 

Even’s stomach flipped at the praise and Isak must have noticed his self-satisfied smirk, because he reached out and ran a feather-light touch down his cock, causing it to jerk. 

“Fuck,” he hissed, his blood on fire. Isak raised his eyebrows at him suggestively, grabbed the bottle of lube, and then slithered down the length of his body, running his tongue along bare skin. “Fuck,” he repeated, clenching his hands into the bed sheets. 

Even lifted himself onto his elbows to watch as Isak uncapped the top of the lube and coated his fingers in a generous portion, rubbing them together to warm it before reaching out to gently circle his rim. Even spread his legs for him and collapsed back onto the pillow. 

“When’s the last time you bottomed?” Isak asked, kissing the inside of Even’s thigh. Coming from anyone else, the question might have sounded dirty, but it sounded more clinical from Isak, like he was wondering just how thorough he needed to be in his prep. His finger was still running slow circles around the outside of Even’s rim, but he hadn’t made any move to push in yet. 

“Uh,” Even said, trying to remember. “A long fucking time. Eight months? A year? I don’t know.” 

“But you’re okay with this though?” 

“The only thing I’m not okay with is how slow you’re going. Fuck, Isak, come on.” 

“Cheeky,” Isak laughed, but he did as Even asked and carefully buried one finger inside of him. He took his time, opening him up slowly with first one finger, then two, then three. Each drag burned and it was like an itch he couldn’t quite scratch, building a fire inside of him but giving it nothing to fan the flames. 

When Even was finally able to take three fingers with no pain, Isak withdrew his hand, wiping the excess lube on the sheets, and sat down to take his boxers off. His cock was flushed red and angry against his stomach, but Even barely had time to glance at it before Isak was climbing on top of him once again, kissing him like he’d been starving for it. 

“Fuck, you’re so good for me, baby,” he pulled back to whisper in Even’s ear. “So perfect.” Isak kissed his forehead and then grabbed the condom sitting on the pillow, rolling it on with well-practiced ease. “You still with me?” he asked when he was done, probably because Even hadn’t said a word in several minutes, but he thought that was excusable because his brain was so clouded with lust he wasn’t sure he could string two words together. 

Even nodded and then choked out the only words he could think of. “Fuck me. Please.” Eloquent, as always. 

Isak laughed, burying his head in Even’s neck, and then nodded. He sat back up, positioned himself at Even’s entrance, and then after one last look to make sure Even wasn’t going to stop him, he pushed inside. 

They released almost simultaneous moans, both trying to pull the other closer like they were drowning and the other was a life vest. It _felt_ a little bit like drowning too—getting lost at sea, not knowing which way was up. All Even knew was that he couldn’t _think_ with Isak that close and it was both terrifying and thrilling all at once. 

Isak’s rhythm started out slow, both of them getting used to the feel of another body, but as Even relaxed around him, Isak picked up his speed, crashing into him desperately, mindlessly, like his body was controlling his actions, not his mind. Even could feel every thrust in his very core and he was trembling with the power of it. He threw his head back, trying to get air, but Isak was quick to follow him, peppering his neck in kisses. 

Even scratched his fingernails lightly down Isak’s back, causing him to shiver, and let his hands travel even farther down to grip Isak’s ass and move him faster. “Shit,” Isak muttered, picking up his pace. “Fuck, Even, you feel so fucking good.” 

“ _I_ feel good?” Even asked breathlessly. “You’re the one who—Fuck, yeah, Isak, right there, shit.” 

He lost himself in the feel of Isak’s body against his and it was like coming home. Like he’d finally found his place in the universe and it was right here, connected to Isak, their hearts beating in time. 

Isak’s rhythm was faltering and Even could tell he was getting close, so he pulled him to his chest and rocked him, using the proximity of their bodies to get some much-needed friction on his neglected cock. Within seconds, Isak was coming, burying himself deep inside of Even, and even though he was wearing a condom, Even swore he could feel it. 

Isak was still shuddering against him, riding out the aftershocks of his orgasm, but Even couldn’t wait any longer. He weaseled his hand into the space between their bodies and began jerking himself off to the memory of Isak’s surprised gasp when he came. Although he didn’t look to have much strength left, Isak lifted up just enough for his hand to join Even’s and together they brought him to orgasm, white cords of cum shooting all the way up to his chest. 

“Sorry about that,” Isak said a few minutes later when Even’s breathing had finally slowed. He pulled out of Even carefully and wiped the both of them down with his T-shirt that he had grabbed off of the floor. “I meant for you to come first, but that orgasm snuck up on me a bit there. I’ll give you a blow job later to make up for it.” He settled back into Even’s side, wrapping his arm around him. 

“You want to ‘make up’ for the best sex I’ve ever had in my life?” Even asked, looking down at Isak fondly. Isak hid an embarrassed grin in Even’s chest. 

“Go to sleep,” he said instead of answering the question, but Even felt too wired to sleep. 

“You’ll be here when I wake up?” he asked and he hated how vulnerable it sounded, but Isak thankfully didn’t seem to notice. 

“I’m not going anywhere, Even,” he said. “Promise.” So he lay there, listening to Isak’s breathing as it slowed to match the rise and fall of Even’s chest, and soon the warmth of Isak against his side lulled him into a deep sleep. 

* 

Even woke in the middle of the night to the feel of a wet heat wrapped around his cock and the sight of a head bobbing beneath the covers. The blowjob was fast and sloppy and Even moaned like a fucking porn star when he came. He was stuck somewhere in the limbo between waking and sleeping and he had almost convinced himself it was a wet dream until Isak peeked his swollen lips over the covers and gave Even a deep kiss that tasted slightly bitter with the remnants of his cum. He fell back asleep before he even thought to say thank you. 

* 

Even’s alarm went off at seven the next morning and he had never hated the sound of it more. He reached over and shut it off quickly, not wanting to wake Isak who grumbled at the sound, but he needn’t have worried. Isak just buried his face deeper into Even’s chest and easily fell back asleep. 

Even watched him sleep for a full five minutes before carefully moving him to the side and crawling out of bed. There was a spot of dried drool on his bare chest where Isak had been laying and he should be disgusted by it, but he just wasn’t. Everything Isak did was cute. 

He left him alone in the room and took a quick shower to wash the smell of sex off of his body and ease his sore muscles. He expected Isak to be awake when he got back, but he was still sleeping and Even wasn’t quite sure what to do. He didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, but he also didn’t want to wake him. They’d been up late the night before and Isak seemed like the type of person that appreciated his sleep. 

In the end, he compromised, ripping a piece of paper out of the closest notebook and writing a quick note: _Had an early class. Didn’t want to wake you._ He scribbled his phone number at the bottom of the page and then added _Call me!_ , underlining it five times to make sure he got the message. He then brought the note and a plate of powdered doughnuts he found in the cupboard over to the bed, setting them on his now-deserted pillow for Isak to find when he woke up. He smiled down at his handiwork and bent to kiss Isak’s cheek. The boy hummed in response, but still didn’t wake. 

Even walked to campus floating on air, happier than he could remember being in his whole life. It was like everything had finally slotted into place. His film showcase was almost complete, he was graduating at the end of the year, and Isak was asleep in his bed. Naked. 

When he arrived at his first class of the day, Mikael smirked at him knowingly, but their professor started lecturing before they could speak. It was an interesting class—Even’s favorite, actually—but even Advanced Filmmaking couldn’t hold his attention. His mind kept wandering back to his apartment. To bare skin and pink lips, to the feel of Isak’s breath against his neck. 

“Yousef looked just like that when he came home last night,” Mikael said, startling Even out of his reverie. He looked around, surprised to find that class had already been dismissed and everyone was packing up their things. “Dopey and in love. I need new friends.” Even rolled his eyes, but immediately proved Mikael’s point by pulling his phone out of his pocket, praying for a text. Instead, there was a notification from Snapchat: _Isakyaki added you as a friend_. He smiled and opened the app. Mikael, who was staring at the screen over his shoulder, started backing away slowly. “I’m going to let you open your nudes in peace, dude. See you at lunch?” 

Even nodded distractedly as Mikael excused himself, only to be replaced by a horde of underclassmen who needed the room next. Even gathered his things, trying to ignore the excitement streaming through his veins, and headed upstairs to the graduate lounge where he could be alone until his next class started. He sat down at an empty table and accepted the friend request. Immediately, a snap popped up. 

Despite Mikael’s warning, Even didn’t actually think Isak had sent him a nude at nine on a Friday morning, but he looked around regardless to make sure no one was watching. The room was thankfully almost empty, so Even leaned back and pressed play. 

It was a picture of Isak lying on Even’s side of the bed shirtless. The sheets were pushed down to his waist so that Even couldn’t miss the toned definition of his abs, and his mouth was covered in powdered sugar. The caption read: _Thanks for breakfast. Wish you were here._ Even wanted to screenshot it so that he could print it out and hang it on his wall. His fingers were hovering over the buttons, but before he could decide, the snap disappeared. 

Almost as if he were timing it, a series of texts from an unknown number appeared immediately. 

_I’m wearing your shirt._  
_I realize now that that sounds like a pick up line but I literally just meant that I had to borrow a shirt. There was beer on mine._  
_And cum._  
_When can I see you again?_  
_This is Isak btw_

Even couldn’t stop smiling as he texted back: _I have class until 6 but maybe after that? I want to take you to dinner. Somewhere nice._

Isak started typing almost as soon as he’d sent the message and Even wished he could see his face to know if his words were making Isak even a fraction of how happy he was making Even. 

_It’s a date._

Even’s head was somewhere else all day. Every time he closed his eyes he pictured Isak as he had been the night before—wanton and wanting—and when he opened them, he couldn’t stop searching for a boy who looked like an angel, walking around campus wearing his clothes. 

His own classes ended at two, but he had a three-hour lab to TA for an Intro to Media Studies class at three. It was a large class, full of jocks and slackers who thought watching movies once a week was an easy way to satisfy their core fine art requirement, but his favorite professor had asked him for a favor at the beginning of the year and it wasn’t like he didn’t need the money. It was generally an easy gig. The labs were broken into groups of about fifty students, which was manageable, and all Even had to do was grade a few papers, lead a few discussions, and press play on the department’s ancient DVD player. 

He got to the lecture hall early, partially because he didn’t want to be _that_ professor who was never available to his students, and partially because the projector had had some sort of vendetta against him since the previous semester and he knew it was going to take him a while to get it started. 

So he placed a stack of syllabi at the front and the back doors of the auditorium for people to grab as they walked in, and then he busied himself behind the podium. Students started filtering in at about twenty ‘til. Most sat and pulled out their phones without a word, but a few came down to ask him questions that he was going to answer once class started if they would just give him a goddamn minute. But he couldn’t really complain because it was a girl named Anna who had to attend a wedding during their fifth class meeting that finally got the projector running. 

Everyone was seated when the clock finally struck three, so Even stood to start class. It would be a quick one, thank God, and then Even could go get ready for his date. His stomach flipped at the thought. 

He had already opened his mouth to call the room to attention when the door at the top of the auditorium creaked open once last time. Despite everything—despite the fact that he’d been searching for him all day—it was the navy blue T-shirt with the film club’s logo on it that he noticed first. _I have that shirt._ It was just a passing thought, one he’d had many times before without it meaning anything, but once the realization hit, his blood ran cold. Because he knew for a fact that someone was walking around campus in his shirt and this was the absolute last place he wanted to see them. 

Sure enough, there stood Isak, looking just as good in Even’s clothes as he’d imagined he would. He hadn’t noticed him yet, which gave Even a second to compose himself, but it didn't do much good. When Isak finally looked up, Even was still staring right at him. Isak, who had been about to step down into the aisle of the auditorium, missed the step and although he didn’t fall, it was a near thing. The people in the topmost rows turned to look at him and he blushed a flaming red, sitting down in the first empty seat he came to next to a girl who did a double-take at the sight of him. 

Even couldn’t breathe. His heart was racing in his chest and he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what this meant—couldn’t comprehend the gravity of it—but he kept his eyes locked on Isak as he introduced himself to the class. “My name’s Even Bech Næsheim and I’ll be your TA for the semester.” 


	2. Chapter 2

Class was an absolute disaster. Or at least it felt that way. Luckily, all Even really had to do was hit the highlights of the syllabus, but he felt so _awkward_. He tried to avoid Isak’s gaze for the first five minutes, but his attention kept drifting back to him, like he was the sun at the center of his universe. 

Fuck. This couldn’t be happening. 

He ran out of things to say about twenty minutes in and then fielded a few more questions before dismissing everyone with a reminder to complete the homework that had been assigned during lecture. 

The room emptied quickly, everyone overjoyed to have had a short class on a Friday afternoon, but there were a few stragglers that hung back to ask questions they’d been too shy to ask in front of the group. Out of the corner of his eye, Even spotted Isak sitting patiently in his seat at the top of the auditorium. He tried to keep his attention on the students in front of him, but his gaze kept drifting upwards. Each time, an annoyed Isak was staring right back. 

It wasn’t until the very last student had left the room that Isak stood and started walking down the steps towards Even. He felt like a child about to get scolded by his parents. _I didn’t know_ , he wanted to say, but he knew it wouldn’t change anything so he kept his mouth shut. 

“So according to the school’s Intimate Relations Policy,” Isak started as he walked down the stairs, brandishing his phone screen in Even’s direction. “That’s what it’s called, by the way—I had to scroll through the entire personnel manual to find it. According to _that_ , I am not going on a date tonight, am I?” Even knew he was trying to make a joke, but it fell flat and he ended up sounding more disappointed than anything. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked instead of answering the question because telling Isak that no, he would not be taking him on a date, hurt too much to even think about. “I thought you were pre-med?” 

“I _am_ pre-med! I’m pre-med and I need a fucking fine art credit to graduate,” he laughed, but there was no humor behind it. 

Even shrugged helplessly. “Then take art history!” 

“Thought of that too,” he said, shaking his phone for emphasis. “Full. Same with Music Appreciation and Theater and Intro to Architecture. I checked them all! I mean, I could put my name on a waiting list, but even then I would have already missed a whole week of class.” He sighed wearily, finally pocketing his phone. “The sex was good, dude, but I’ve got an early acceptance to med school and I can’t fuck that up.” He looked sad—devastated even—for about 2.5 seconds before it was replaced with mock-anger. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he snapped, reaching out to hit Even’s arm playfully. “Do you not have a roster?” 

“Of course I have a roster, but why the hell would I look at it before class even starts?” 

“Um, I don’t know,” Isak said sarcastically. “Maybe so you don’t accidentally sleep with one of your students?” And, well, there was that. “Fuck, Even, I hate you so much right now.” He looked up to the ceiling, like he was praying to God for mercy, and then started laughing—for real this time. “My life, man, seriously. But, hey, I’m not giving up on this yet, _Professor Bech Næsheim_.” __

Even cringed at the name. “Please never call me that again.” 

“Whatever.” Isak rolled his eyes, pulling his backpack higher onto his shoulder. “I hope you enjoy blue balls because I’ve got your Snapchat now, and I am the master of dick pics.” Even swallowed audibly. “And I’m keeping your shirt. Mainly because I’m mad, but also so I’ll have something to remember you by when I’m jerking off later tonight.” He was clearly frustrated, but despite his words, Even could tell that his frustration was geared more towards the impossible situation than at Even himself. 

“Keep it,” he agreed, reaching out to grab the hem and pulling Isak closer on instinct. “It looks good on you.” 

Isak leaned into him, resting his hands on Even’s chest and tucking his head under his chin. “Stop it,” he complained, but he made no move to pull away. “I’m already hard. You look so fucking hot standing up there teaching and shit.” 

“We can still go to dinner,” Even tried, even though he knew it would be a bad idea. “I owe you—” 

“You don’t owe me anything,” Isak argued, finally pulling away and disentangling Even’s hands from his shirt. “But I think we both know dinner’s not happening. At least not tonight. Maybe in a few weeks when I can’t remember what it feels like to be inside of you anymore.” Even wasn’t sure whether the last part was meant to be taken seriously or if Isak was just trying to turn him on, but he thought it might be a mixture of both because he smirked when Even groaned in frustration. “I need to go before I jump you, but I’ll see you in class. I guess.” Isak closed his eyes and shook his head, like maybe he was just having a bad dream, but when he opened them, they were still in the same sticky situation they’d started in. “Bye, Even.” 

Even stood in the front of the classroom and watched as Isak walked out, every step between them causing him physical pain, but he was holding on to hope that Isak had been telling the truth. Maybe he wouldn’t give up on them after all. 

* 

Even’s first stop when he left campus was the apartment that Mikael shared with Yousef and Elias because as soon as Isak was out of the room and he could think clearly, he realized this was all Mikael’s fault. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he cried, barging into the apartment that they never kept locked. Mikael and Elias were sitting on the couch playing video games, but they both looked up in surprise at Even’s interruption. 

“Dude!” Elias cried, his character getting killed on the screen. Mikael just sat there smirking. 

“So he _is_ in your section?” he smiled, pausing the game and setting the controller down. “I was starting to think maybe he was in Adam’s when you didn’t text me right away.” 

Even threw his arms in the air in exasperation. “And you didn’t think to tell me? It was your week to do the big lecture. You knew he was in there and you still dragged him over to our table at the bar last night.” Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he turned to find Sana entering from the kitchen. “Hi, Sana,” he greeted sheepishly, now slightly embarrassed by his yelling. 

“Hi,” she smiled, clearly amused. “I heard you had a fun night.” 

Even knew it was stupid, but his stomach leapt at Sana’s words. “He talked about me?” She smiled and gave him a coy shrug, but he knew she wasn’t going to say anything else. 

“How the fuck was I supposed to know that after a whole semester of pining, you were finally going to make a move on the dude?” Mikael asked. 

“Wait, who are we talking about?” Elias asked, brows furrowed in confusion. “Did you hook up with Angel Boy last night?” They both ignored him. 

“Look, just chill,” Mikael continued. “It’s not like you slept with him.” Even tried to school his expression, he really did. “Holy shit! You slept with him?! What the hell? I thought you didn’t do one-night stands?” 

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t supposed to be a one-night stand!” 

Elias was laughing by this point and Mikael looked like he was about to start. Even wasn’t so blind that he couldn’t see the humor in the situation, but he was also _sad_. This day had not turned out at all like he thought it was going to. 

“It’s just four months,” Mikael tried to reassure him. “It’s going to be fine.” 

Even rolled his eyes petulantly. “Just four months and then both of us are graduating. I don’t know where the fuck I’m going to be in four months. I don’t know where the fuck _he’s_ going to be in four months. This was our last shot and now it’s just…” The boys stopped laughing and were now looking at Even worriedly, but neither seemed to have anything to say to make it better. Sana, however, did. 

“Isak’s going to be here in four months,” she shrugged. “We both are. We got accepted into the medical school.” The storm cloud over Even’s head slowed to only a drizzle. 

“Seriously?” he asked, barely daring to hope. His advisor had been promising to hook him up with a production company in town after graduation, just to help get his feet under him. This might actually work. 

“Yeah?” Sana laughed. “Isak could have told you that.” 

“I didn’t think to ask,” he said because admitting that they had to cut their conversation short to keep from jumping each other in a public lecture hall seemed a bit inappropriate at the moment. 

“See,” Elias said, gesturing to his sister. “You have time to figure it out. Calm down.” Even _was_ feeling slightly more calm, but then Sana’s phone dinged with a text and his heart jumped into his throat because he just _knew_. He watched as Sana pulled her phone out of her pocket and smirked at the screen, thumbing it open to type out a quick reply. 

“What did he say?” Even asked because he couldn’t help himself. 

Sana gave him a disapproving glare, but even she wasn’t strong enough to resist the power of Even’s pout. “You’re ridiculous,” she sighed, looking down at the screen and reading, “‘Good news: my film TA is hot as hell. Bad news: it’s Even.’” Even felt the corner of his lip turn up in a sort of half-smile. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” she said, grabbing her backpack off of the floor at her feet. “I’m going to go make sure he doesn’t drink himself to death.” 

The boys said their goodbyes from the couch and Even gave her a hug as she passed. She had the front door already pulled open when Elias called across the room, “We’ll tell Yousef you stopped by.” Mikael snickered from next to him, but Sana didn’t lose her cool in the slightest. 

“Why would he care?” she shrugged and then she was gone. 

Elias and Mikael burst into laughter as soon as the door shut behind her. “I don’t know which of them is more fun to mess with,” Elias said. 

Mikael gave him a dubious look and then the two of them agreed “Yousef” simultaneously and started laughing once more. They resumed their video game in silence and after a few more minutes of brooding, Even joined them on the couch. 

“You should totally be thanking me,” Mikael said, looking over at Even quickly before turning his attention back onto the game. “If I had told you he was a student last night at the bar, then you wouldn’t have gotten laid at all. At least this way you’ve got something to tide you over until summer.” Even sighed and then sat there trying to decide whether a taste was truly better than nothing at all. 

“Yes, Mikael, thank you,” he said sarcastically. “Thank you for agreeing to grade his papers for the rest of the semester.” 

“Ugh, fine,” he said, looking up morosely as Elias killed his video game character for the third time. “But if he starts slipping kinky hidden messages into his shit, I’m out.” 

* 

Isak gave him a 24-hour reprieve before the texts started. The first one came in just before midnight on Saturday when Even was closing out of the video editing software he’d had open on his computer for the past three hours. Even though he knew he shouldn’t, when he saw Isak’s name on his phone, he started smiling. The text itself, however, was cryptic. 

_Do you want to be my friend please?_

The answer was a resounding yes, but the wording of the text combined with the late hour and an unintelligible Snapchat story of Isak taking shots at a bar led him to believe that Isak might not be completely sober, so he let the text sit and fell into a fitful sleep. 

It was after noon before Isak texted him again and although Even was awake, he hadn’t yet managed to pull himself out of bed. 

_I drunk texted you. Sorry about that. Very unprofessional._

Even hid his smile in the pillow Isak had slept on only a couple nights before. It still smelled like powdered sugar. 

He thought about simply telling Isak it was fine and that he should forget it ever happened, but Isak wasn’t something that Even wanted to forget and he had questions. 

_You want to be friends?_ he texted instead, hoping it sounded more flirty than desperate. 

_So we’re talking about it_ , Isak texted back seconds later. _Okay look. I’ve read through that fucking policy about 20 times and nowhere in it does it say we can’t be friends. If being your friend is all I can have for the next four months then I want that. I want whatever you can give me._

The butterflies were back in full force and Even stared down at his phone in astonishment. He knew it was a bad idea, knew that his self-control was nowhere near as strong as Isak was suggesting, but that didn’t stop him from wanting what he was offering. 

He debated what to reply for so long that Isak must have gotten impatient because he sent a follow-up text that stole the breath from Even’s lungs and left his heart feeling sore, like Isak had taken it in his hands and squeezed it as hard as he could. 

_You promised I wouldn’t be a one night stand._

_Never_ , Even replied with shaking fingers because he couldn’t let Isak think that. Not even for a minute. 

_Okay. So…do you want to be my friend please?_

_Yes Isak. I want to be your friend._

Even dreaded seeing Isak in class on Monday but he had to admit that it didn’t seem so daunting now that he had the reassurance it wasn’t all or nothing. There was a third option. They _could_ just be friends. Theoretically. 

It was his week to TA the big lecture and he arrived early under the pretense of helping his professor set up, but really he just needed some time to clear his head. He needed to get used to the idea that he and Isak were about to be in the same room and this time, he couldn’t touch him. 

He thought that was what hurt the most: the fact that for less than twenty-four hours, Isak had been his. It was something he’d dreamed about for months in the same way you might dream about winning the lottery or becoming famous. It had seemed like a complete pipedream, and yet it had happened. Then it was taken away from him. 

Even had a seating chart and marked each student present as they sat down. Usually he did it once class started because it was a lot easier to just glance and see which seats were _empty_ , but he needed something to do to keep his eyes off of the door. It didn’t really work and it turned out to be pointless anyway because by the time the lecture started, Isak still hadn’t arrived. 

Even’s heart had been racing since he stepped into the room, but his nerves quickly turned to excitement. Had Isak found another elective to take? Had he dropped the class? He pulled out his phone, half-expecting a ‘ _We can fuck now’_ text, but there was nothing. He’d barely had time to get his hopes up before the back door to the lecture hall creaked open quietly and Isak stepped into the room, golden curls hidden under a red snapback. 

Isak found his eyes immediately and winced. “Sorry,” he mouthed across the room, shutting the door quietly behind him and then making his way to his assigned seat. He wasn’t the only student that was late that day, but he was the only late student Even hesitated to mark as such. Which was, of course, precisely the problem with the mess they’d gotten themselves into. With a heavy sigh, Even placed a red ‘T’ for “tardy” by his name. 

The lecture went well. Or at least the students laughed at the appropriate times and seemed to be asking good questions, but Even wasn’t really paying attention. He had heard this same lecture what felt like a million times, so part of his inattention was boredom, but most of it was Isak. 

He just looked so damn beautiful. Any hope Even had that their one night together might get Isak out of his system disappeared because that boy was not out of his system. Not even a little bit. Even couldn’t tear his eyes away, enraptured by the angel sitting in seat H7. It was so ridiculous and so embarrassing, but the very sight of him made Even remember the way his fingertips had branded his skin, the way he had held him so tight while they were making love and whispered into his ear how perfect he was. On any other day in any other situation, that memory might have turned him on, but all he felt was a sharp pang in his heart, an acceptance that this was his reality and it wasn’t going anywhere. 

Isak looked over at him a few times as well, blushing the prettiest shade of pink each time he saw Even staring right back, but he seemed to have more self-control than Even. He was at least taking notes. He was paying attention. 

Even knew class must be over when everyone suddenly started moving at once. “Don’t forget to turn last week’s homework in to Even,” Professor Iversen called over the sounds of people re-packing their backpacks, pointing to the table Even was sitting at. There were metal trays laid out for the students to drop their papers into neatly, but half of them ended up loose on the table anyway, so Even busied himself with stacking them as the room began to empty. When someone started helping him scrape them all into a pile, he didn’t even have to look up to know who it was. 

“You were late,” Even said, staring up into Isak’s green eyes. 

Isak smirked down at him. “You going to give me detention?” Even couldn’t help but smile. “My class before this is all the way across campus. I’m doing my best.” He held out the stack of papers he was holding and Even took them, shoving them into his bag with the rest. 

The auditorium was empty now and since there was no one around to see them, the temptation to pull Isak across the table and kiss him was much harder to ignore. So he started a mantra in his head: _friends, only friends, just friends_. 

“Did you like the film?” Even asked, nodding towards the papers stowed in his bag. He wasn’t ready to leave Isak just yet, but he didn’t know what else to say that wasn’t ‘I miss you and this is killing me.’ 

Isak scoffed. “It was pretentious as shit. All of you film nerds are exactly the same. You find symbolism in every little thing. Like sometimes a curtain is just a curtain, you know?” 

Even gasped and clutched his heart like he was offended by Isak’s words. “Did you just call me a nerd? I don’t think we can be friends anymore.” 

Isak rolled his eyes at the dramatics. “Too late. You already promised.” The way he said it, like it _meant_ something to him that Even had agreed to that, sent a wave of contentment washing through his whole body. He thought Isak might have felt it too because his face softened. “See, if you had just been here last week, we wouldn’t be in this position right now.” 

He said it jokingly, but there was a truth to it that neither of them could deny. Even couldn’t help but wonder if he regretted the night they had spent together. He probably should have let the conversation drop, but his curiosity got the better of him. “Is that what you want? For none of this to have ever happened?” 

It took Isak a while to answer. He looked Even up and down, like he was seeing into his very soul, and Even felt exposed in front of him—more exposed even than the night when he’d lain naked on his bed and opened up his body and his heart to the man in front of him. Finally, Isak shook his head. “No, that’s not what I want. I’m glad you weren’t here.” Even let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and returned Isak’s shy smile. “But I should probably get going before I’m late for another class. Have fun…grading papers.” 

Even nodded and then watched as Isak ambled out of the classroom, turning around every couple of feet to look back at Even, like he hadn’t quite had his fill. Once the door shut behind him and Even was alone in the room, he let out a frustrated groan and threw his head down onto the table. 

He had proved to himself today that yes, he _could_ do this, but that didn’t mean it was going to be anything close to easy. 

* 

Even thought that after a couple of class periods it would get easier. That one day he would wake up and it would suddenly just click that Isak was his student and therefore off limits, but if anything, it was getting harder. Because with each day that passed, he was getting to know Isak better—and fuck, the boy was perfect. 

Mikael was still grading all of his papers, but that didn’t stop Even from reading them alone in bed at night like they were fucking fairytales or something. He’d known Isak must be smart to get into medical school, but sometimes book smarts didn’t translate to things like media studies. The film critiques Isak turned in, however, were masterful. They were witty and poignant and made Even, who had been taking these classes for six years, stop and think about films he had seen five, six, seven times in a new light. Of course, Isak hated literally everything he’d been assigned to watch, but thankfully he wasn’t being graded on his horrible taste in cinema. 

Isak had also taken to stopping by during Even’s office hours just to chat about the most random things. Like how his roommate insisted on having sex exclusively to Disney soundtracks or how Sana said she wasn’t into Yousef, but he knew she was lying because he’d never seen her smile as much as she did when she was with him. 

Technically, Even shared an office with Mikael and Adam, but their office hours were at different times and whenever Isak showed up, they would slip out of the room without a word, even if sometimes Even wished they wouldn’t. It was innocent for the most part, but occasionally Isak would forget himself and start flirting. Occasionally Even would forget himself and flirt back. 

It wasn’t just that, though. It was everything. It was the way Isak would watch _him_ instead of watching the movies during their lab. It was the way he would bite his lip when he was concentrating on something, like he had no idea what that did to Even. It was the innocuous texts asking him to clarify a homework assignment and also the ones that said things like _‘I can’t stop thinking about you’_ or ‘ _I woke up with wet sheets this morning._ ’ It was the snap he got one day _during class_ that showed a blurry picture of himself grading papers in the corner with the caption ‘ _Fuck, you’re hot’_ followed by about seven fire emojis. 

There was a very real possibility that Even was falling in love. 

* 

It was a month into the semester and Even was sitting at home on a Friday night grading papers when his phone dinged. He smiled when he saw Isak’s name on the screen and moved the collection of subpar essays he’d been suffering through to the floor because Isak deserved his full attention. 

_Are you going to Yousef’s party tomorrow?_

_Yes,_ Even typed back. _Why?_

_Sana invited me and I want to go but I wasn’t sure if I was allowed._

Even chuckled down at his phone. _Why wouldn’t you be allowed?_

_Because there’s going to be alcohol there and the only thing I want to do when I get drunk is fuck you._ There was a pause and then another text came through. _I’m a horrible friend._

Like it always did, Even’s stomach fluttered at the reminder that Isak still found him desirable. _Come to the party_ , he texted back. _You drink. I’ll stay sober._

_Ugh you’re so boring. How am I going to convince you to sleep with me if you’re sober?_

_My point exactly._

_Fine. See you tomorrow?_

_See you tomorrow_

* 

Even showed up at the party later than usual, hoping that if Isak already had a couple of beers in him, maybe they could skip the awkward part and just chill—pretend like they really were something akin to friends instead of two guys who had slept with each other. The irony was not lost on him that this was why he didn’t do one-night stands in the first place. 

The apartment was packed when Even walked in, but not uncomfortably so. He pushed through the sea of unfamiliar faces, looking for any he might recognize, and soon spotted Mikael in the kitchen, clutching a beer in his hand and nodding at something the person in front of him was saying. Even had to weasel his way around three more people before he realized that person was Isak. 

Even froze in the middle of the kitchen. It had been over a month and still the very sight of Isak took his breath away. It was getting better in class when he knew to expect it, but if he ever saw him randomly on campus—or talking to his friend at a party—his heart would start racing and his knees would feel weak and he would turn into a damn cliché, basically. So he stood there and stared at the boy he could not have, praying that tonight wouldn’t be the night he had to watch him leave with someone else. 

Mikael spotted him first, but Isak was quick to follow his gaze across the room and when he saw Even standing only a few feet away, a wide smile broke out across his face and his eyes lit up with unadulterated happiness. It was the type of happiness Even always associated with children who knew nothing about the harsh realities of the world. Even stared back at him and felt as if his heart had grown several sizes too big for his chest, like everything he was feeling simply could not fit inside of him. 

He joined them without a word and leaned back against the bar, hoping that it might keep him standing even if his knees failed. Isak tracked his movements, the smile never leaving his face. Even could see now that his eyes were shiny and his cheeks were flushed—he had clearly had more than a couple beers already—but he seemed to be a pleasant drunk, so Even wasn’t complaining. 

“Hey, man,” Mikael greeted, clapping him on the back and offering him a beer that Even refused. 

“Hey. What’s up?” He wasn’t sure if he was asking Mikael or Isak, but Mikael was the one who answered. 

“I was just talking to Isak here about your lab on Friday, but funny story—he can’t actually remember what you watched. He remembers the striped button-down you were wearing and the way you click your pen when you’re grading papers, but nothing about the actual movie. Weird, huh?” Mikael smirked over at him and Even could tell he was only a second away from laughing, but if Isak realized he was being made fun of, he was too drunk to care. 

“Even,” he said, reaching out and grabbing his sleeve to pull him closer so that he could whisper-yell into his ear. “So many of my TAs are here, but I’m not going to sleep with any of them.” He said it like it was a secret, but his voice carried in the small room and Mikael finally lost it, laughing loudly at the two of them. 

“I’m going to leave you to it,” he said, inching away from them, still chuckling. Even watched him go, but Isak seemed to have already forgotten he was talking to him in the first place. His eyes were glued to Even like he was the most amazing thing he had ever seen and if nothing else, it was doing wonders for Even’s pride. 

“Hi,” he said, smiling down at the boy who was still clutching onto his sleeve like a child. He wanted to reach out and run his fingers through Isak’s golden curls, but he refrained. 

“Hi,” Isak said. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.” 

“I told you I would.” 

Isak scoffed. “Yeah, but you also told me we weren’t having a pop quiz last week and you lied about that, asshole.” 

Even groaned in exasperation because they’d had this argument at least five times already. Still, he couldn’t stop smiling, basking in Isak’s presence for the little time he had to enjoy it. “That is not what I said and you know it. You asked if there was a pop quiz and I told you that I couldn’t tell you that.” 

“No,” Isak said, shaking his head. “No, you said, ‘No, I can’t tell you that.’ The ‘no’ at the beginning suggests a negative response to the question I asked.” 

“Why the hell would I tell you I couldn’t tell you and then tell you anyway?” 

“I thought you were being sneaky!” Isak cried. “Like you were trying to give me a hint or something.” Even rolled his eyes, but he was distracted from responding as Isak sidled even closer to him until he was plastered across his front. There was a group of people passing behind them, so Even assumed he was just trying to get out of the way, but once they were gone, Isak still didn’t move. He pressed closer and looked up at Even from beneath his eyelashes. “Even? Will you tell me the next time we have a pop quiz? Please?” Isak tilted his head up, like he was going in for a kiss, but instead of aiming for his lips, Isak rubbed the tip of his nose against Even’s playfully, his warm breath tickling his lips. 

Even stood there for several long seconds, once again hypnotized by the light in Isak’s eyes, before the reality of what they were doing set in. They were too close. Even could feel the hardness in Isak’s pants against his thigh and it was more than he could handle tonight. It took every ounce of self-control he had, but he finally managed to grab Isak by the shoulders and force him to take a step back until there was at least two feet of space between them. Isak pouted his displeasure. 

“Did you just try to bribe me?” Even asked with a laugh, running his fingers through his hair to try to distract himself from just how adorable Isak looked. 

Isak shrugged. “I don’t know. Was it working?” Fuck yes it was working, that was the damn problem. Isak took another step forward, about to crash into Even again, but he pushed him back before he could get too far. 

“No, Isak,” he commanded. “There is a line.” He gestured down to the tile floor half-heartedly and Isak looked down with him, brows furrowed in confusion. When he saw nothing, he looked back up, a question in his eyes. “There is a line and we can’t cross it,” Even repeated and he felt better now that Isak was a few feet away. He felt like he could think clearly again. 

Isak looked down once more. “Like a physical line or…?” 

Even sighed. He was completely missing the point. “Physical, metaphorical, both—I don’t know. The point is that you have to stay over there and I have to stay over here and we both have to keep our hands to ourselves.” 

“Okay…” Isak mused and Even thought he might actually be starting to get through to him when he took another step forward. 

“Isak,” he groaned, drawing the attention of a group of girls standing by the refrigerator. He looked over to them pointedly, but Isak just shrugged. 

“I just wanted to ask you a question.” 

“You can’t ask me a question from over there?” 

“No,” Isak said, like Even might possibly be the dumbest person he’d ever met. “It’s a secret.” 

Even rolled his eyes. “It’s a secret question?” 

“Yes. Does your line let me ask you questions?” Even ducked his head in defeat. Why did he even bother? Taking his reticence as permission, Isak crossed the physical line Even had set and stepped into his personal space once more. He reached up, like he was about to bury his fists in Even’s shirt, but at a quelling look from the older boy, he dropped them. “No touching,” he said so quietly Even almost couldn’t hear him. “Got it.” Even quickly realized how dumb that rule was, however, because then Isak leaned in and whispered into his ear and the shiver it sent thought his body made it feel like he was touching him everywhere, all at once. 

“Can I still picture you naked or is that crossing the line?” Even’s heart skipped a beat in his chest and Isak pulled away just a bit so that he could look into Even’s eyes. At this point, Even wasn’t sure whether Isak was just being a clueless drunk or a flirt, but he couldn’t take much more of the teasing. He really couldn’t. “Because I do, you know,” he continued. “Every time I close my eyes, I can still see you laid out in front of me taking my fingers and my cock like they were fucking made for you or something.” 

Even closed his eyes, hoping that maybe if he couldn’t see Isak, he had a chance of getting through this conversation without popping a boner. Sadly, it only made it worse because with his eyes closed, he could picture the same scene Isak was picturing and it was just as beautiful now as it had been then. 

“Isak,” he groaned, quieter this time. Isak, however, was not finished talking. 

“It’s not fucking fair, Even,” he said and he sounded desperate now, like he was begging him to understand. “You know what it feels like to have me inside of you, but I don’t know. I don’t. If I’d known that was the only night we would get, I would have stayed there in that bed with you forever. I just want to feel you—just once. Please.” 

He was getting loud, like he didn’t care who heard them, and despite his best efforts, Even was definitely hard now. “Fuck, Isak,” he hissed, opening his eyes. For one brief second, Isak looked worried that he might have actually crossed a line, but his frown quickly turned into a smirk when Even grabbed his arm and began leading him through the crowd towards Yousef’s empty bedroom. 

Even paused at the door, looking around to make sure no one was actually watching them, and then reached up to grab the small key off of the top of the doorframe. He unlocked the room and then replaced the key before pushing Isak inside and flipping the lock back behind them. He had barely turned around when Isak’s lips were on him. 

Even wasn’t prepared for the kiss and Isak’s depth perception seemed to be a little off because he pressed their lips together so hard it was almost uncomfortable, more teeth than anything. Despite the discomfort, however, there was a promise in that kiss. A promise of more to come. A promise he wasn’t going to get a chance to fulfill. 

“Isak,” Even groaned, gently pushing the boy away. 

“Seriously?!” Isak cried with a humorless laugh. “Why the fuck did we come in here then?” Even in the dimly lit room, Even could tell the boy’s cheeks were flushing darker, probably from rejection. If he would only look down at the front of Even’s jeans, he would realize how wrong he was and see the physical evidence of just how much Even wanted him in that moment. 

Even shrugged helplessly. “Because I was about to jump you in the middle of the kitchen.” That, at least, seemed to appease Isak. His shoulders relaxed and he turned back to Even with a devious smirk. 

“And you thought moving behind a locked door would help?” No, not really, but he did think that moving behind a locked door might at least keep him from getting kicked out of the graduate program only a couple months before graduation. Maybe Isak had been right all along. Maybe they _shouldn’t_ be at the same parties. The two of them and alcohol obviously didn’t mix. 

“So you won’t let me touch you,” Isak said, sitting down on the edge of Yousef’s neatly made bed. “And _you_ won’t touch me. What does that leave us with?” 

Even crossed the room to stand in front of him. “That leaves us as friends.” 

Isak rolled his eyes like that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. “Friends with benefits?” he tried. 

“Friends,” Even insisted and Isak’s look of exasperation was so charming, he had to fist his hands at his side to keep from touching him. God, this was torture. 

“What about phone sex?” Isak asked hopefully. 

Even shook his head in disbelief. “Nothing that has the word ‘sex’ in it, Isak.” 

“So…like a blowjob? That doesn’t have the word sex in it.” Even was about 80% sure he was just teasing him at this point because Isak stood with a smirk and crossed the space between them to rest his hands on Even’s chest. Even had lost the will to pull away and just hoped that Isak wasn’t about to kiss him again because he didn’t think he had the strength to say no twice. 

“A blowjob is a type of oral _sex_.” 

Isak’s hand snaked up his chest until it was resting on his cheek and Even couldn’t help but lean into the touch. “Just let me give you a blowjob,” he said, leaning in so he could whisper into Even’s ear, like he already knew just what that did to him. “You’re not taking advantage of me if I’m the one taking advantage of you. I want to feel close to you again. You liked the first one, I know you did.” 

“Isak,” he groaned, but Isak was no longer listening to him. The boy bit his earlobe playfully and then, before Even could stop him, he fell to his knees. 

That was, of course, when the door opened. 

Instead of springing apart like they probably should have, the boys stayed perfectly still in the dark, as if hoping they wouldn’t be noticed if they just didn’t move. 

“Why don’t you believe me?” Yousef laughed, stepping into the room and flipping on the overhead light. “My dad brought it back the last time he was over there for a game—signed and everything.” He was turned around talking to Sana, but paused at the surprised look on her face. 

Isak finally sprang to his feet, taking several large steps away from Even and running his fingers through the back of his hair nervously. His face was tomato red and Even knew his probably was too. 

“This isn’t what it looks like?” Even tried, but Sana and Yousef both leveled him with the most unimpressed looks he’d ever seen. 

“My room?” Yousef cried in outrage. “Seriously?! What the hell did I ever do to you, Even?” 

“We were just talking!” he argued. 

“Yeah,” Sana smirked. “How was that going?” 

“So good!” Isak said, obviously not picking up on her sarcasm in his inebriated state. “He’s so smart, Sana, and so pretty. Isn’t he pretty?” He gestured to Even’s face and Even closed his eyes, praying for an end to his embarrassment. 

“Very pretty,” Sana agreed with an amused smile and Isak beamed, like she had given him the best compliment in the world. 

“He says we can’t have sex,” Isak continued. Even huffed out a sigh of disbelief. Was this really his life right now? “But I think I’ve almost negotiated him down to blowjobs.” 

“You haven’t,” Even was quick to point out, but Isak just rolled his eyes at him. Even drunk, he seemed to realize that Even was helpless against his charms. 

“Okay,” Sana said, her voice filled with barely-contained laughter. She stepped around Yousef and crossed the room to grab Isak by the arm. “Why don’t you let me take you home now?” 

Isak pouted at first Sana and then Even. “No! Even was going to take me home.” That was news to Even. When Sana looked to him for an answer, he just shrugged. 

“Even’s busy tonight, sweetie,” she said. “He’ll take you home next time.” 

“Yeah?” Isak smiled over at Even and he couldn’t help but nod. _Whatever you want_ , he thought. _Whatever you want._

“Okay,” Sana said, already leading him from the room. Isak watched Even the whole time, a dopey smile still glued to his face. Sana rolled her eyes at the both of them. “Night, boys,” she said to Even and Yousef, who were both still standing there, trying to figure out what had just happened. “Isak, tell your professor goodnight.” 

Even bit back a retort and chose to wallow in his own misery instead. “Goodnight, Even,” Isak said. “We’ll talk about the blowjob again later, okay?” 

Even closed his eyes and shook his head, but he couldn’t be mad. Not at Isak. Not when he was the one who had gotten them into this mess in the first place. “Goodnight, Isak,” he agreed with a sigh and then the boy was gone, the door slamming shut behind him. 

Even and Yousef stood there staring at each other for several long, awkward seconds before Yousef let out a massive groan of frustration. “I fucking hate you right now, I hope you know that.” 

Even silently agreed. He hated himself a little bit too. 


	3. Chapter 3

Even woke up the next morning to a series of increasingly desperate texts from Isak above what looked to be a thumbnail for a video he had sent around three the night before. 

“What the fuck?” Even groaned, sitting up in bed, thumbing open his phone, and clicking into their text conversation. The thumbnail was larger now and even though the image was dark and blurry, Even was almost completely positive that was Isak’s dick. “What the fuck?” 

His first instinct was to press play immediately, but before he could, Isak sent him yet another text, moving the screen to the bottom of their conversation. There was a long string of unanswered messages there, all sent within the last five minutes. That must have been what woke Even up. He scrolled to the top and started reading, one eye still closed against the morning light. 

_FUCK_  
_If you haven’t already PLEASE don’t watch that video. If you have, I am so so sorry._  
_I was so drunk Even_  
_I heard what you were saying last night about the line and sober me is going to stay so far away from that line you have no idea_  
_Shit please say something_  
_I know you’re probably just asleep but I am freaking out here_

Even typed out a quick response before Isak could work himself into a panic. _I haven’t watched it yet._

The reply was almost instantaneous: _YET?_

_Oh I’m totally watching this,_ Even texted, smirking down at his phone screen. _Is that your dick? Did you send me a sex tape?_

_EVEN!_

Even scrolled back up to the top of the conversation and was just about to press play when something stopped him. Damn his fucking conscious. 

_If you want me to delete it I will. But for what it’s worth I’ve been hard since last night and I really want to watch it._

He knew he _shouldn’t_ want to watch it, but you couldn’t just dangle something that delicious in front of him and expect him not to taste it. It was too early in the morning. His guard was down. 

It took Isak so long to respond that Even almost deleted the video anyway. He was glad he didn’t. 

_Watch it_

His cock was already straining against the confines of his boxers when he pressed play. The video was dark and blurry, clearly filmed one-handed by a drunk person, but there was no mistaking what he was looking at. Isak was lying down on what Even assumed was his bed. You couldn’t see his face in the video, but he was stroking himself fast and hard, thrusting up into his own hand and making soft mewling noises that Even recognized from their one night together. 

It was the worst type of porn video—the kind that you would click out of immediately because the quality was so bad—but it was still the most erotic thing Even had ever seen. It was short, less than a minute long, and after what felt like no time at all, Isak was coming with Even’s name on his lips. 

The screen reset and Even was left staring at his phone in stunned silence. “What the fuck?” he said for the third time, his finger already hovering over the play button once more. Before he could press it, however, Isak texted him again. 

_Okay you watched it. Now say something_. 

Even was torn between responding and pulling his boxers off, so he decided to do both. He typed out a reply with his left hand and pulled his underwear down to his ankles with his right. 

_I’m going to need to watch that again_

Once freed, his cock bounced hard against his stomach, sending a jolt through his body. There was so much pre-come already that he knew it wasn’t going to take long to get him off. He pressed play and starting stroking himself slowly, trying to pace it out and come when Isak did. Yet another text notification showed up at the top of his screen, but the video didn’t stop playing. 

_Drunk me should have used Snapchat._

Even lost himself in the sounds Isak was making, the groans and the soft pleas he hadn’t heard the first time. “Fuck, yes. Just like that, Even. Don’t stop.” 

Another text popped up: _ARE YOU JERKING OFF???_

He would be embarrassed by it later, but it was the text that pushed him over the edge. He came with a moan, painting his stomach with stripes of cum. The timing was off. It was another ten seconds before the Isak in the video reached his own orgasm, but if Even knew anything about himself, he knew he would get another chance to try again later. He had nothing better to do than masturbate and he was pretty sure he could listen to the sounds of Isak coming on repeat forever. 

He took a few seconds to come down from his high before he texted Isak back. 

_Did you send me porn and expect me not to?_

The typing bubble appeared immediately, but it was almost a full minute before Isak seemed to decide what he wanted to say. 

_Did you get off?_

Even could picture him asking that question, lying in his own bed, shy and uncertain. 

_Fuck Isak you know I did._

The next reply came much quicker. _I want to see. Send me a picture._

Logically, Even knew it was a bad idea, but he was still sex stupid and high on endorphins. He just wanted to make Isak happy—that was all he ever wanted. A picture seemed a small price to pay for the miracle that was that video. 

So he opened his Snapchat, angled the camera so that all you could see were his abs coated in tacky cum and his now-sated dick still slightly hard against his stomach. The finished product wouldn’t be winning any prestigious photography awards, but it was nice as far as dick pics were concerned. The lighting was good. 

He put the timer on ten seconds (because why the fuck not at this point) and then hit send. His cheeks were uncomfortably hot and he instantly regretted it. What the hell was he doing? 

The notification came quickly: _Isakyaki took a screenshot!_

Even’s blush darkened, but he was oddly flattered that someone thought a picture of his dick was worth saving. 

_There_ , Isak texted a few seconds later. _Now we both have something to masturbate to._

* 

Even was already in a bad mood by the time his lab period rolled around on Friday and watching some freshman girl flirt with Isak was not helping. He’d barely seen him all week and now that they were finally in the same room, they couldn’t even talk. Instead, Isak got to talk to _her_. Even hated it. 

He knew the jealousy was pointless—not only because Isak was gay, but also because he wasn’t Even’s to be jealous of—but he thought what was bothering him most was that this girl got a part of Isak that he couldn’t have, at least at the moment. 

So he sat in his dark corner behind the podium as some documentary about advertising in media played around him, and he stared. He stared hard. Usually he tried not to be so obvious about his infatuation for Isak, but it was the end of the week and he was done. He didn’t have the energy left to pretend that he wasn’t affected. 

Isak was still sitting in the aisle seat of the topmost row, just as he had been on the first day of class, but as the weeks progressed, the girl sitting next to him—Emma—had gotten braver. Today, she was whispering almost non-stop and it took everything in Even not to go up there and tell her to shut up and watch the movie. That _was_ his job, after all—to keep the class in order—but no one around them seemed bothered and Even couldn’t actually hear her from where he was sitting, so he didn’t think he could justify it. What he did instead was dock her participation points for the day because he was petty as fuck. 

Isak at least didn’t seem too interested in whatever she was saying. He hadn’t responded to her in—Even looked down at his watch—the past eleven minutes, but he also wasn’t telling her to stop. Instead, he tried to get Even to do it for him, widening his eyes meaningfully and jerking his head in the girl’s direction any time she looked away from him. But Isak was a big boy. He was going to have to handle this by himself. 

They were halfway through the movie when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out behind the podium so that the light wouldn’t carry and saw Isak’s name staring up at him. Instead of reading it immediately, he looked up at Isak and cocked a stern eyebrow. Isak was staring right back, as if daring him to say something. Even rolled his eyes and unlocked his phone. 

_HELP ME_

Even’s lips curled up in a grin that he quickly tried to hide. 

_You sure?_ he texted back. _She’s pretty._

Isak must have had his phone hidden down by his side because he looked towards the floor to read the text. 

_FUCK YOU ASSHOLE_

Finally taking pity on him, Even pocketed his phone and then raised his voice to address the class. “Hey, guys, no talking,” he said, staring directly at Emma. He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but he didn’t think he was very successful. Emma cowered back into her seat, crossed her arms over her chest, and finally stopped talking. 

Even smirked for the rest of the movie. 

Once it was over, most of the students cleared out pretty quickly since it was late on a Friday afternoon and they had no assignments due in the next week to bother him about. Isak, as usual, remained behind. Even was busy fighting with the projector when he heard the door to the auditorium click shut one last time and a familiar set of footsteps walk towards him. 

“Hi,” Isak said once he was close enough. 

“Hi,” Even replied, raising his eyebrows in greeting. Behind him, the projector finally flickered off and he bent down to retrieve the DVD they’d been watching, putting it back in its case and handing it to Isak without a word. 

Isak—bless him—took it without question. “What’s this for?” 

“You were talking to that girl through the whole movie,” Even smirked. “You need to actually watch it or you’re going to fail your next exam.” Isak’s face lit up and Even knew what he was about to say before he actually said it, so he cut him off. “And no, that’s not a thinly veiled hint about what’s going to be on the next exam. That’s just common sense.” Isak shut his mouth with a disappointed glower. 

Even had finally finished cleaning up his mess and was now leaning against the podium, trying to radiate confidence when he was actually quite nervous. He hadn’t seen Isak since the party the week before, so he hadn’t seen him since the whole sex tape debacle, and it was a little weird to be standing in front of him now, thinking about how many times he’d come to the sound of him moaning his name in the past week. He’d finally gotten the timing down and was strangely proud of the fact that him and Video Isak had gotten very good at simultaneous orgasms. 

“That was not my fault,” Isak insisted, flipping the DVD case over to read the back. “Trust me, I would have much rather watched this.” He put the case in his bag and sighed up at Even. “Dude, I can’t sit next to her anymore. I just can’t do it.” 

“Seats aren’t assigned,” Even pointed out. 

“No, I know,” Isak grumbled. “But that just seems rude. Plus, let’s be real, we both know she’s not the real reason I can’t concentrate.” Even preened a bit at the insinuation that he was distracting, realizing belatedly that that was probably not something a TA should be proud of. Isak, seeming to notice this, rolled his eyes. It was crazy how in only a few short weeks, he already knew him so well. 

“I actually didn’t come up here to flirt with you,” Isak said with a grin, pulling a piece of paper out of his bag. “I have a legitimate question.” When Even just looked confused, Isak continued. “About the class that you teach, dumbass.” 

“Oh,” Even said, flushing red. There was such a cognitive dissonance between who he was when he was alone with Isak and who he was in front of the class, that it gave him whiplash switching between the two so fast. He had never felt more like Isak’s teacher than right now and it put a bitter taste in his mouth. “Yeah, okay, what do you need help with?” 

Isak once again seemed to notice that something was off because he watched him in concern for several long seconds before finally heaving a sigh and flattening the crumbled paper onto the podium so that Even could see it. It was a copy of the syllabus. 

“So I know that the syllabus says our final paper has to have at least one primary media source and we’re supposed to talk about how it affects society or whatever, but can we do two? Like a compare-and-contrast-type thing? As long as we keep it within the word limit?” He scratched the back of his head absently and Even wondered if he felt as awkward asking the question as Even did answering it. 

Even pretended to mull it over for a minute and then shrugged. “Yeah, that should be fine. What are you wanting to do it on?” 

The smirk on Isak’s face made him regret asking. “Well,” he said, dragging out the word as he folded his syllabus back up. “I have it on good authority that my TA is a Baz Luhrmann fan, so I was thinking about comparing the 1974 version of _The Great Gatsby_ with the 2013 one. Talk about how media and society has changed between the two—that type of thing.” Isak shrugged it off like it was no big deal—like Even’s cock hadn’t plumped up eagerly at the sound of Isak talking about one of his favorite films. He really hoped it was a Pavlovian response to how many times he’d come to the sound of Isak’s voice in the past week and not a sign that he’d finally reached the point in his life when he got hard at the mere mention of good cinema. God, he was fucking pathetic. 

“I think that’s a great idea, Isak,” he finally choked out, his voice at least an octave higher than he was used to. Isak cocked an eyebrow in his direction, but didn’t comment on it. 

“Yeah?” he asked again, suddenly shy. “I was planning on binge watching the movies this weekend.” He shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot. “Would you maybe want to watch with me?” 

Even closed his eyes because the offer was everything he wanted and everything he’d been dreading simultaneously: a night alone with Isak. It was a bad idea—a very bad idea—and looking into Isak’s beautiful green eyes wasn’t going to help him make a smart decision. “Isak,” he groaned. 

“Even,” Isak teased, using the same exasperated tone Even had. Even opened his eyes and, just as he knew he would, he found himself hypnotized. _I would give you the world_ , he thought and knew it was true. “Look,” Isak said, suddenly serious. “I’ll be on my best behavior, okay? I promise.” 

And that’s how Even found himself cleaning his already pristine apartment on a Saturday afternoon. Isak had offered his own (“I’m the one that invited you, the least I can do is host”), but Even knew he had roommates and he wasn’t keen on sharing whatever this was with anyone else. Plus, he already owned the movies and he was willing to bet that his TV was much nicer than Isak’s. 

Once all of his clothes were picked up and the floors were vacuumed, Even stood back and admired his handiwork. It looked much nicer than the last time Isak was there, although he doubted he would notice. 

Less than five minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Even took one last deep breath to steel himself for whatever was coming, and then forced a smile onto his face and opened it. He was nervous again—he wasn’t quite sure _why_ , but it might have something to do with the fact that the last time Isak was in his apartment, he’d promised him forever. When he opened the door and came face-to-face with him, however, his smile softened into something genuine. 

“Hi,” he breathed, looking Isak over eagerly. He certainly hadn’t dressed up for the occasion, wearing only sweatpants, a T-shirt, and a ratty gray hoodie. It reminded Even of lazy Saturdays spent at home and then he realized that was exactly what this was and his smile grew wider. 

Noticing his gaze, Isak smirked. “I didn’t want you to think this was a date,” he said, gesturing down to his clothes. 

“No,” Even chuckled, stepping out of the way so that Isak could get through the door. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” 

Isak moved around his apartment effortlessly, as if he’d been there a hundred times. He dropped his backpack down by the couch and then looked again at Even’s art wall to see if there was anything new. 

“Do you want something to drink?” he asked, just as he had the last time they did this. This time, Isak nodded. 

“Beer, please,” he smiled over his shoulder. Then, “Is this me?” Even didn’t have to see what he was pointing at to know that the answer was yes. He’d taken to drawing cartoon versions of Isak in his spare time as a sort of outlet for all of the sexual frustration. In an effort to seem aloof, Even refrained from answering until he had two cold beers in his hand. 

“Yeah, there’s one of you up there,” he said casually, choosing not to mention the other four in his bedside table. “Here.” He passed the beer over and Isak took it with a smile. “But I’m cutting you off after that. You’re a fucking horny drunk.” 

“I’m not a horny drunk,” Isak argued, taking a long swig of his beer. “I’m a horny person.” Even rolled his eyes, but wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He was trying to figure out how to effortlessly transition to actually watching the movies without making it seem like he was trying to rush Isak out, when Isak spoke again. “Hey, were you planning on feeding me? I probably should have asked before I came over, but I forgot.” 

“I haven’t eaten,” Even admitted. He had been far too nervous to eat. “Want me to order a pizza?” 

“Would you?” Isak grinned. “I’m not going to make it through five hours of movies without something to eat.” Even scoffed. “What?” 

“You’re not going to make it through five hours of movies anyway. You’re overestimating your attention span.” 

Isak smirked and took another sip of his beer. “And you’re underestimating how much I want to spend time with you.” 

Even felt his cheeks start to heat up, so he turned away, trying to act like his stomach hadn’t flipped at Isak’s words. “I can go ahead and order it, if you want,” he said instead, pulling open his junk drawer to see if he still had the coupons that had been slid under his door at the start of the semester. 

“Pepperoni, please?” Even nodded absently and watched out of the corner of his eye as Isak made his way into the living room. “Which one do you want to watch first?” he asked, glancing down at the two movies sitting on his coffee table. 

Even paused his search to raise an eyebrow at him. “You’re supposed to be telling me that.” Isak threw him an unimpressed glare that Even returned, before pulling out his phone to order the pizza. By the time he had finished and wandered over to the living area himself, the 1974 version of _The Great Gatsby_ was already cued up and Isak was waiting for him on the couch. 

There was something off about the image, so Even stood back and stared for several long seconds. When he figured out what it was, he shook his head at his own stupidity. Even’s apartment was so small that the only way the was able to fit both a couch and a bed inside was to put the couch right at the foot of the bed. The TV sat in front of the couch, but usually when Even watched movies, he did so from the comfort of his bed. Staring at Isak on the couch, it occurred to him that for the past 24 hours, he had been picturing him in his bed instead. 

“You ready?” he asked, patting the spot on the sofa next to him. Even was pretty sure he wasn’t, but he sat down anyway, just far enough out of reach that they were not touching. As soon as he was settled, Isak pressed play. 

Even had watched the older version of _The Great Gatsby_ before, but it was definitely his least favorite of the two adaptations. He tried to pay attention, but be found himself distracted by Isak more often than not. He would miss whole scenes staring at the boy’s lips out of the corner of his eye, and even though they were not sitting close enough to share body heat, Even could still feel his phantom touch on his skin and he couldn’t concentrate on anything but the way it made his heart pound. He wanted Isak back. He wanted to be allowed to want Isak back. 

The pizza arrived about a half hour later, but Even motioned for Isak to keep the movie playing as he went to the door. He gathered the pizza, plates, and napkins before re-joining Isak in the living room. They ate in silence, their attention elsewhere—Isak’s on the movie and Even’s on Isak. By the time the credits rolled, they had finished a pizza and a half between them. 

“You want to take a break?” Even asked, grabbing some of their trash and standing to take it back into the kitchen. Isak nodded absently, lifting his arms over his head to stretch his sore muscles. Even was momentarily distracted by the stripe of pale skin his movement exposed, but quickly looked away. 

Isak excused himself to the bathroom as Even finished cleaning up their mess. He was fiddling with the DVD player to get the next movie started when Isak walked back into the room. 

“Feel free to say no,” Isak said, sitting down on the arm of the couch. “But can we watch the next one from your bed?” 

Even finally got the main menu of the DVD to pop up and then turned around to tell Isak in no uncertain terms that no, they could not get in bed together for obvious reasons. When he looked back at him though, his resolve weakened. Isak was rubbing his neck like he did when he was nervous, except this time, Even recognized it as an attempt to relieve the tension that had built from sitting on a stiff couch for almost three hours. His primary instinct was still to take care of Isak and the bed _was_ so much more comfortable. 

“I guess,” he finally answered, trying to dismiss the idea as no big deal. Maybe if he pretended hard enough, it wouldn’t be. 

Isak obviously hadn’t been expecting to receive permission because his eyes widened and his face broke out in a brilliant smile, like Even had told him he could jump on the bed rather than just lay in it. “Really?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” Even chuckled. He stood from his place on the floor and dusted off the seat of his pants. “Do you want a snack or anything before I press play?” 

Isak shook his head. “No, dude. I’m so full of pizza I’m about to bust.” Even nodded and then threw Isak the remote, telling him to get comfortable while he took a quick trip to the bathroom. When he got back, Isak was already nestled into the pillow that Even had considered his since the night they slept together and he was buried beneath the covers. That hadn’t been Even’s original intention, but he wasn’t going to make him move now. Not when he looked so cozy. 

He lifted the comforter and crawled into bed next to Isak, trying to refrain from touching him, but it wasn’t easy seeing as how Isak had situated himself in the very middle of the bed. 

“Ready?” Isak asked, looking up at where Even had propped himself against the headboard. Even nodded and then the movie began playing. 

If he’d thought the first movie was difficult to get through, it was nothing compared to the second. Since Isak was lying down while Even was halfway sitting up, he was able to watch him without Isak noticing. So he did. A lot. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he even looked up at the TV at all. He’d seen this movie so many times that he really didn’t have to. Instead, he entertained himself by watching Isak’s eyebrows furrow or his lips pull back in a smile in reaction to a scene. Even thought this just might be his new favorite way to watch movies. 

When watching Isak got to be too much—when the affection building inside of him felt ready to spill over—Even started talking. He spit out mindless facts about the movie whenever they occurred to him, facts about the production and costume design, about casting, about the differences between the Coppola screenplay and the Luhrmann one. If there was one thing that never failed to calm him, it was movies. Isak didn’t interrupt him once, just tilted his head and smiled up at him. When he reached his seventh fun fact, however, Isak sat up with a laugh so that he could look at Even head-on. 

“You realize you’re writing my paper for me right now?” he asked and he looked so beautiful with his face lit by the glow of the television screen. “Should I take notes? Can I quote you?” 

Even grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. I’ll stop.” 

“It’s not a problem,” Isak shrugged. “I like hearing you talk.” He stared at Even knowingly for a few more seconds before lying down again. Instead of aiming for his pillow, however, he shifted his body so that he could lay his head down on Even’s chest, throwing his arm casually over his stomach as he did so, like it was nothing. Even knew it was just an act though, because Isak’s muscles were tense on top of him, waiting for a reaction, and Even could feel the boy’s heart racing against his chest. 

Even knew that the smart thing to do would be to push him away, but he just couldn’t. Not when he needed this so bad. He relaxed his own muscles, feeling the tension bleed out of them, and then lifted his arm from his side to wrap it around Isak and pull him closer. Almost immediately, Isak went soft and pliant beneath him, nuzzling his nose into Even's chest to hide a smile. Even didn’t bother to try to hide his. 

For the next half hour they laid there, cuddled under the warmth of Even’s blankets. Isak was still at least pretending to watch the movie, but Even’s mind was a thousand miles away. His heart once again felt too large, like it was about to burst out of his chest, and it was terrifying in the best way. He’d never felt like this before. Not with Sonja and not with anyone after that. There was just something about Isak that had drawn him in from the very beginning and wouldn’t let him go. He was so different than Even ever could have imagined as he watched him from across the Quad so many months ago, but the reality had far surpassed any of his expectations. Laying there with him now, he saw before him the future that they almost had. 

“Isak,” Even said when he literally couldn’t hold his feelings in anymore. His voice was so thick with nerves that he was surprised Isak didn’t pick up on it immediately. Instead, the boy hummed beneath him—probably expecting another fun fact about the film—but Even had stopped paying attention to that an hour ago. He ran his fingers through Isak’s hair just because he wanted to and then admitted his worst fear into the darkness. “I’m scared that when this is allowed, you’re going to lose interest.” 

It seemed to take Isak a second to register his words, but when he did, he sat straight up in bed and Even did too. His eyes were squinted against the light from the TV screen, like he might have dosed off without Even realizing it, and there was a crease on his right cheek from where he had been laying on Even’s shirt. “What?” he asked, reaching over to pause the movie. Even thought for a second that he might actually have to repeat himself, but then Isak barreled on, shaking his head in disbelief. “Are _you_ going to lose interest in _me_ when this is allowed?” 

“No,” Even said, “But—” 

“Then why would I lose interest in you?” 

Even swallowed hard, unsure whether he wanted to admit the extent of his affection for Isak, but he figured what the hell. He didn’t have anything to lose at this point and he would rather know now than have his heart shattered later. Plus, he was pretty sure Isak had guessed most of what he was about to say anyway. “Isak, I saw you on the first day of school last semester and I’ve had a ridiculous crush on you ever since. This isn’t going away any time soon. Not for me.” 

Isak rolled his eyes and it was such an absurd reaction to what Even had said that he reeled back. “I told you that first night that I didn’t want it to be a one-night stand,” Isak pointed out. “I had no idea you were my TA then and it’s not like I’m fetishizing this whole teacher-student thing—I mean, yeah, I tease, but it’s fucking weird.” 

“Yeah,” Even said, shaking his head, “But—” 

“What’s your hang-up here?” Isak asked instead of letting him finish. “Is it that you think you like me more than I like you?” Even inhaled a sharp breath of air, surprised by the bluntness of his question. He opened his mouth to try to deny it, but his throat was too dry to form words. Isak’s face softened immediately. “Even,” he sighed, grabbing his face between his hands. “You have no idea, do you?” 

He forced Even to look at him and it was like a curtain had been dropped because suddenly all of the emotions that Isak had hid behind his taunts and teases were written across his face. It took Even’s breath away. 

“Look,” Isak started with a small smile when it was clear Even was paying attention. He dropped his hands from around his face, but didn’t move away. “I wasn’t planning on telling you this, like ever, because you’re the type of person who is going to read way too much into it and then turn it into a movie with a lot of pretentious symbolism later on, but I saw you too. It wasn’t the first day—it was a few weeks into the semester—but you were so gorgeous and so confident and I knew immediately that I _had_ to meet you. But you don’t make it easy! You never stop for coffee, you rarely eat on campus, and you study in that fucking graduate lounge instead of in the library like a normal person. I couldn’t even stalk you properly because you aren’t on social media. I had almost given up altogether when I saw you talking to Sana in the Student Union one day.” 

Even’s mouth was open in shock, but he didn’t dare to interrupt. 

“She didn’t give me much,” Isak sighed with a fond smile, “But she did give me your name. I found a review online for some film expo you did a couple years back and—irony of all ironies—I signed up for Media Studies thinking that maybe we’d at least be in the same building a few days a week.” He shrugged helplessly. “Obviously, that backfired a bit.” 

Even’s head was spinning so fast, he actually felt dizzy. “So no, babe,” Isak smirked, reaching out to run his thumb along Even’s cheekbone. “I’m not going anywhere either.” 

If his heart had been full before, it was overflowing now. He literally had no words, so he lunged forward and wrapped Isak in the tightest hug he had ever given anyone. 

“Oomph,” Isak grunted, falling into him, but he quickly relaxed in his grasp, burying his head in Even’s neck and running his hands up and down his back. A hug seemed like such an inadequate gesture to convey all that he was feeling, but it was the only option left open for him. They stayed like that for almost a full minute before Even pulled away. 

“That’s some epic love story shit, Isak,” he said, reaching out to tweak his nose playfully. Isak scrunched it up and turned away so he couldn’t do it again. “It _would_ make a good movie.” 

“Ugh,” Isak groaned, collapsing back against the pillows. Even reached out and ran his fingers through his blonde curls one last time, not knowing when he would get another chance. Isak looked up at him fondly. “Can you at least get someone hot to play me?” 

“Whatever you want.” 

Even’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but his happiness was well-worth the pain. As he sat there, staring down at the angel tangled in his bed sheets, he started to think maybe he was worth the pain too. 


	4. Chapter 4

Something changed after that night. After almost six weeks of torture, Isak stopped teasing. He stopped taunting. He stopped sending Even pornographic videos when he was drunk. They still talked every day, but now they were talking about things that mattered—not just how fucking horny they were. 

They slowly got to know each other outside of a bedroom and with every new piece of information Even learned, he grew more convinced that Isak was _it_ for him. They talked about Isak’s mother who lived in a skilled nursing facility somewhere close by and how his father’s solution to all of their problems was to throw money at it and hope it went away. They talked about Even having bipolar disorder and how even though things seemed stable now, that would not always be the case. They talked about his good days and his bad days and how Isak made his bad days just a little bit better. 

They had both realized that in the grand scheme of things, four months was _nothing_ , and that foregoing a relationship just because it couldn’t be a sexual one was stupid. They didn’t need sex—they just needed each other. So, like they had planned all along, they became something close to friends, although the word “friend” still got stuck in Even’s throat because it wasn’t nearly enough to describe what they were. Mikael was Even’s friend. Yousef was Even’s friend. Isak was Even’s world. 

They got lunch together a few days a week and Even even ventured into the main library on campus for the first time since undergrad to sit with Isak while he studied. The sexual tension between them still hung thick in the air, sometimes building up to stifling levels, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle alone at night with his face pressed against the shower wall and his hand wrapped around his cock. 

Strangely, it was the little things that he found hardest to resist. Without even realizing he was doing it, he would reach for Isak’s hand as the boy complained about all of the shit he had to finish before the semester was over. Or he would brush Isak’s curls out of his eyes absently as the boy sat bent over a textbook studying. Every time Even slipped up and let himself touch him, Isak would calm immediately and give Even a smile that warmed his heart. _You’re mine_ , he wanted to say. _I’m going to take care of you._

So, yes, he did miss the sex, but he also missed the chaste kisses and the way it felt to wake up next to someone you could see yourself spending a life with. 

Needless to say, it was a long semester—and yet, it was coming to an end. 

Even’s film showcase was scheduled for the second to last week of classes and although his piece had been perfected for _weeks_ , the thought of presenting it in front of a panel whose sole job was to tell him if this was something he could actually do with his life was nerve-wracking. He barely slept, he barely ate, and he spent all week pushing Isak away, which was why it was so surprising when he walked into the theater that day, looking incredibly lost. Even rushed to him immediately. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, unable to keep the smile off of his face. Isak did a double take at the sight of him, taking in his neatly pressed slacks and his collared shirt. 

“Damn, you’re hot,” he muttered instead of answering the question. 

“Isak,” he said, forcing the boy to look up at him. “What are you doing here?” 

Isak’s face softened. “Did you really think I was going to miss this?” he asked, rolling his eyes. 

Even cocked an eyebrow at him. “No,” he admitted. “Which is why I didn’t tell you when it was.” 

“Mikael did,” Isak shrugged. “Plus, apparently I can get extra credit in Media Studies for being here. Adam was taking tickets at the door and that’s what he said. So not only am I being a good boyfriend, but I’m also being a good student.” 

Even’s face flushed at his words. “Boyfriend?” he asked. 

Surprisingly, Isak didn’t seem embarrassed by the slip. “I’m trying it out,” he shrugged. Then, “You’re going to do great, Even. I know you are.” Even wanted to close the distance between them and kiss him until his nerves were settled, but he knew that he couldn’t. Instead, he wrapped Isak in a quick hug and then they separated, Isak to an empty seat at the back of the auditorium, and Even to sit with the rest of the presenting filmmakers. 

The showcase was long and Even was presenting right at the end, which gave him ample time to stew in his own panic. His pulse was hammering uncomfortably against his skin and when it was finally his turn to stand in front of the crowd and present what amounted to essentially two years of his life, he couldn’t remember a single word of the speech he had been practicing for days. At least not until he found a pair of familiar green eyes staring down at him—the eyes of his guardian angel. Isak smiled at him encouragingly and all of the white noise disappeared until it was only the two of them rehearsing this same speech in Even’s kitchen, just as they had the week before. 

In the end, he delivered it flawlessly and then sat back down with a huge smile on his face as his movie played. It was over. It was done. Pass or fail, there was nothing he could do about it now. He looked over his shoulder to where he knew Isak was sitting. He couldn’t see him in the dark, but just knowing that he was there filled Even with warmth. He couldn’t believe he’d almost let Isak miss this. He was _so_ happy and he wanted Isak to be there for every happy moment in his life from then on. 

When the program was finally over and Even had been congratulated by what felt like every professor he’d ever had, he walked Isak back to the tram stop, listening intently as he fawned over his film for the whole five minutes it took to get there. It shouldn’t have meant anything coming from someone whose favorite movie was directed by Michael Bay, but it really did. It meant even more to him than the accolades his advisor promised were coming. 

“…and the symbolism didn’t even seem pretentious coming from you—” 

“Isak,” Even stopped him, reaching out to cup his cheek in his hand. Isak stopped talking immediately and Even watched as his cheeks flushed under the attention. “Thank you for coming.” And then, without pausing to overthink it, Even leaned forward and pulled him into one long, slow, desperate kiss. 

Isak had barely had a chance to kiss him back before Even forced himself to pull away. “I’ll see you in class, okay?” Isak was too dazed to respond for several seconds, but eventually he nodded, just as the tram pulled up. Even squeezed his arm in goodbye and then watched from the sidewalk as Isak took a seat by the window. His eyes stayed locked on Even until the tram drifted out of sight. 

* 

It was Even’s turn to work the big lecture on the last day of class, so he was the one who had to collect the final essays and sort them into piles based on lab section. When Isak finally made it to the front of the line, he was smiling. “I’ll see you later?” he asked, passing his own paper over. Even had to remind himself that this still wasn’t the end—that he was still technically Isak’s TA until after finals—but he nodded anyway. 

He spent a few hours grading the first half of his lab section’s essays in the grad lounge, and then rewarded himself for his patience by reading Isak’s. He knew he was biased, but it was far better than anything else he’d read that day. He recognized some points from what Even had told him the night they watched the movies together, but most of it came from Isak alone. He smiled through the whole essay, irrationally proud. 

After that, he made his way back to his empty apartment, showered, dressed himself in dark jeans and a striped button-down that he knew Isak liked, and then made his way to the apartment that Mikael, Yousef, and Elias shared. 

Isak was already there when he arrived, watching the door, and as soon as Even walked in, his face lit up. He was sitting alone on the couch so Even made his way over and kissed him lightly on the top of his head in greeting before turning towards the kitchen. “Let me grab something to drink and I’ll be right back.” Isak pouted, but let him go. 

It wasn’t a full-blown party, per se, but the boys had invited all of their friends over to celebrate the upcoming graduations. Even got stopped three different times before he was able to grab a beer and make it back to Isak, who had now been joined on the couch by Sana. 

“Hey,” Isak greeted, interrupting Sana mid-sentence. She rolled her eyes as he grabbed Even’s hand and pulled him down onto the couch next to him. “How was your last day?” 

“Good,” Even sighed. “I’ve just been grading essays and stressing about finals.” Isak hadn’t bothered to let go of his hand, so he squeezed it lightly just because he could. 

“And how did Isak do on his little essay?” Sana joked. 

“Oh my god, don’t answer that!” Isak said immediately, looking back at Even like he was resisting the temptation to put his hand over his mouth. “It was horrible! I’m sure it was horrible.” 

Even pretended to mull over that comment for a few seconds, but he eventually cracked into a smile. “Your essay was good, Isak,” he said. “I was very impressed.” Isak looked torn between smiling and blushing, but eventually did neither. 

“You better not be lying,” he whined. “I need a good grade on that paper because I’m totally going to fail the final.” 

“Wait, what?” Even asked at the same time Sana burst into laughter. 

“Isak,” she admonished. “Are you trying to guilt Even into scoring your paper higher?” 

“No!” Isak cried, looking back and forth between the two of them. “I just—well, look at him, damn it! I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything all semester. I borrowed Emma’s notes last week but honestly, I don’t trust her note-taking abilities that much.” Even bristled at the mention of Emma’s name, but still couldn’t fully comprehend what Isak was saying. 

“You’ve obviously been paying enough attention, Isak. Your film critiques are some of the best I’ve read.” Isak did blush at that. 

“Yeah, because I’ve been trying to impress you,” he admitted with a laugh. “I’ve been re-watching the films at home after class when you’re not around to distract me.” 

Even’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“That’s a lot of effort for a fine arts class,” Sana noted. 

“Maybe,” Isak said, smirking over at Even. “But it’s been working. He’s been giving me As.” 

Sana gave them both an unimpressed look and Even could already hear the ‘Are you sure _that’s_ why he’s giving you As?’ when Mikael barged into their conversation and saved him. 

“No, dude,” he said, walking over with Yousef and taking a seat on the coffee table in front of them. Yousef kept walking and situated himself on the arm of couch instead, just behind Sana, who smiled up at him. “That’s been me.” 

Isak furrowed his brow in confusion. “What?” 

Mikael chuckled. “I’m the one that’s been grading your papers. Did you really think we’d let Even do it? He was fucking in love with you before you even slept together.” Even threw his arms into the air, wondering once again what he did to deserve such obnoxious friends. “Bit of a conflict of interest, don’t you think?” 

“But,” Isak started, looking around at everyone assembled. His confusion quickly turned to anger, which he had no problem directing at Even. “Are you fucking kidding me?” 

“I’m sorry,” Even chuckled, although he wasn’t quite sure what he was apologizing for. “Was I supposed to tell you that?” 

“Yes!” Isak cried and Even couldn’t help but laugh. Isak rolled his eyes at his amusement, but let the older boy pull him in for a hug nevertheless. “I never would have tried that hard if I’d known I was doing it for _Mikael_ ,” he spat out against Even’s shoulder. “I pretended to hate every single thing we watched just because I knew it would rile you up. So much of my life—wasted.” 

“I mean, you did get an A out of it,” Mikael shrugged, standing once again. “And I see no reason why you won’t make an A on this one too. Unless you wrote it about something stupid like Baz Luhrmann.” Even scoffed up at him as Isak let out an affronted gasp. “Kidding,” Mikael laughed, holding his hands up in innocence. “Geez, have a sense of humor, people.” He waved goodbye to them and then wormed his way back into the overcrowded kitchen. 

“I fucking hate you,” Isak muttered, but there was no real heat behind it. 

“Wait,” Sana said a second later with a devilish smirk. When Even looked up at her, he couldn’t help but notice the way that Yousef’s hand was now casually resting on her shoulder, almost as if he didn’t even know it was there. “So if you’re not grading Isak’s essays, does that mean you’re _leisure reading_ them? Even, please tell me you’re not.” 

Even would have denied it, but his blush gave him away and he spent the next five minutes getting ribbed by Sana and Isak until Yousef finally took pity on him and bent down to whisper something in Sana’s ear. She looked up at him and nodded. “Isak, we’re going to leave,” she said, gesturing back to Yousef. “Are you going to be okay here? Can you find a ride home?” 

Isak, who still had a wide grin on his face, nodded. “Even’ll take me home.” 

“Oh, I will, will I?” Even taunted. “You make fun of me and then you want me to take you home? That’s not how this works.” 

Isak pouted up at him and inched closer until they were almost touching. “Please?” he begged, rubbing their noses together just like he had the last time they were in this apartment. “I’ll be good, I promise.” 

“Yeah,” Even noted. “You’ve said that before.” But he eventually agreed and Sana and Yousef made their getaway, double-checking to make sure no one was watching as they shut the front door behind them. 

Isak was almost on top of Even by that point—he was very tactile when he drank. His feet were underneath him on the couch and he was leaning into Even with his knees thrown into his lap. Instead of telling him to move like he probably should have, Even wrapped an arm around his back and pulled him closer. Isak sighed in contentment, resting his head against Even’s shoulder. 

“What’s going on there?” Even asked, gesturing to where Sana and Yousef had disappeared. 

“I’m pretty sure they’re a thing,” Isak shrugged. “You know Sana—she’s not very forthcoming with the details—but he’s been at her place every time I’ve dropped by in the past two weeks. I think they’re just trying to find the right time to break it to Elias.” Even winced. “Yeah,” Isak chuckled. “Poor Yousef.” 

All around them people were laughing and talking loudly, but to Even, there was only Isak. He felt like it was only the two of them in the room, warm and wrapped in each other’s arms. For a minute, he felt whole again. 

“Even,” Isak murmured into his chest, his eyes drifting shut. “Can we get out of here?” 

Even sighed deeply, wanting to please Isak, but not wanting to leave him. “Yeah,” he finally said, pushing him away gently so that they could stand up. “Come on,” he said, offering Isak his hand. “Let’s get you home.” 

Isak pursed his lips in distaste, but took Even’s hand and let the older boy pull him into his chest. “I don’t want to go home,” he argued, tangling his fingers in Even’s shirt. “I want to go back to your place.” 

“Isak,” Even groaned. “We’re so fucking close. Just give it three days and you’ll be done—” 

“I fucking know that,” Isak grumbled, looking up at Even. “I just want to sleep. I sleep better when I’m with you.” He sounded so vulnerable and Even couldn’t help but worry. He’d only slept at Even’s twice—once that very first night, and then again during the last thirty minutes of the second _Gatsby_. If that was the best sleep he’d gotten all semester… 

“Isak,” he breathed. 

“Please?” 

So of course he said yes. 

He worried at first that Isak might not be able to walk the half-mile to Even’s apartment, but once he got him outside, away from the noise and the people, he seemed to sober up a bit. They walked in silence, their shoulders brushing against each other with every step, and when they were almost halfway home, Isak reached across the short distance and laced his fingers with Even’s. Even’s stomach flipped joyously and he couldn’t bring himself to tear them apart. 

Even hadn’t been expecting visitors, so his apartment was a bit of a mess. Isak didn’t care. He let go of Even’s hand to grab a glass of water—which he downed in three gulps—and then walked across the room and collapsed face-first onto Even’s bed. 

“You okay?” Even chuckled. 

Isak rolled over onto his back so that he could speak. “Yeah,” he said. “I think I’m going to go to sleep now. I stayed up late finishing that damn paper you’re not going to grade.” Even smirked, but didn’t argue. It had been a long day for him as well. 

“Maybe take off your shoes first?” he offered, but Isak just grumbled and buried his head into Even’s pillow. Almost immediately, he seemed to find something wrong with it because he scrunched up his nose and grabbed the other pillow—the one that he had used both times he’d been in Even’s apartment and the one Even had taken to sleeping on lately to fill the hole in his heart. He scooted over to that side of the bed and curled into a ball, shoes and all. “Isak,” Even groaned, already resigned to having to do it himself. 

He changed out of his own clothes first and then sat down on the edge of the bed to work on Isak’s. The boy let him slide off his shoes without a problem, but when he reached to try to unbutton his jeans, Isak was having none of it. “Not tonight, Even. I’m sleepy.” Even rolled his eyes at the irony of it all. _Now_ Isak wanted to play innocent? 

“Isak,” he said, hoping he sounded stern and not just exasperatingly fond. “If I let you fall asleep in those jeans, you’re going to yell at me tomorrow, so _please_ can you take your pants off for me, babe?” If Isak found the request odd, he didn’t mention it. He just huffed his displeasure at having to move and then pulled his pants off unceremoniously and dumped them onto the floor. 

“Happy?” he slurred, head already buried back in his pillow. 

“Yes,” Even smiled. “Very. Thank you.” He folded Isak’s discarded jeans because it seemed like a nice thing to do and then, with nothing else to distract him, he climbed into bed next to him. Even had thought that he was already asleep, but once he got settled, Isak surprised him by rolling over and cuddling into his side. 

“G’night, Even,” he mumbled into Even’s shirt. Even hesitated for only a second before carding his fingers through Isak’s hair and kissing his forehead. 

“Good night to you too, Isak, “ he whispered, even as the younger boy’s breathing slowed. “Sweet dreams.” 

* 

Even woke to the smell of food, which was so rare in his apartment, it was actually a little frightening. His eyes shot open and he sat up in bed, convinced something was burning, but when he looked to the kitchen, everything seemed to be in order. It was only when he relaxed back against his pillow that he noticed Isak smirking down at him. 

“Bad dream?” he asked. He was leaning against the headboard with Even’s computer open on his lap, clicking through flashcards on Quizlet. It was such a bizarre scene that Even was almost entirely certain he was still dreaming. 

“Do I smell food?” he asked instead, looking again towards the kitchen. On second glance, he noticed that the light to the oven was on, but he couldn’t for the life of him think of what Isak might have found to put in it. 

“Mhm,” Isak hummed, flipping another card over. “I found some cinnamon rolls in your freezer. They should be ready soon.” Even’s mouth fell open in surprise. He got cinnamon rolls _and_ Isak this morning? What was going on? Isak, noticing the look on his face, smiled down at him and reached out to scratch his fingernails against Even’s scalp. “Go back to sleep,” he offered. “I’ll wake you when the timer goes off.” 

But Even didn’t want to sleep. Instead, he inched over just a bit, so that he could rest his head on Isak’s leg. Isak let him, still playing with his hair, and moved the laptop to the bed to give Even more room. 

“You didn’t have to make me breakfast,” he said. 

Isak chuckled. “ _You_ made _me_ breakfast. This is just re-payment for the doughnuts.” 

“Those were store-bought,” Even pointed out. 

Isak rolled his eyes. “And these are frozen.” 

Even watched in silent fascination as Isak worked, flipping through cards faster than Even could read them. It was only as the clock in the corner of the screen changed times that Even realized how early it was. 

“What the fuck, Isak?” he groaned, nuzzling his nose deeper into the boy's thigh. “Why are you studying at 7:30 on a Saturday morning? We could still be in bed.” 

“We are still in bed,” Isak grinned and Even huffed his displeasure at Isak’s definition of being in bed. “I have a very strict study schedule,” he continued. “It was either this or leave. I didn’t want to leave.” No, Even didn’t want him to leave either. 

“What are you studying?” he asked instead, trying to wake himself up. If Isak was bothered by the interruption, he didn’t show it. 

“You don’t recognize it?” he asked playfully, tilting the screen more fully in Even’s direction. “I’m doing Media Studies today and Immunology tomorrow because I have both of those on Monday.” When Even was finally able to focus his eyes, he did recognize the information on the flashcards. Too bad none of it was on the exam. It took everything in him to clamp his mouth shut and not say a word. 

He began to drift back asleep to the steady stroke of Isak’s fingers through his hair, but he was brought back to consciousness a few minutes later when the oven timer went off. 

“I’ll get it,” Isak said, moving Even off of him so that he could stand. “You stay here. You want something to drink?” 

He came back a few minutes later with a plate full of piping hot cinnamon rolls drenched in icing and two large glasses of milk. They scarfed the meal down pretty quickly, but Even was too lazy to drag the dishes back to the kitchen, so he sat them on the floor next to his bed. When he sat back up, he turned to Isak and noticed a drop of icing on the side of his mouth. He couldn’t help but smile. 

“Here,” he said, waving him over, “You’ve got a little…” Isak moved towards him without question and let Even wipe the icing off his face with his thumb. If his finger trailed over Isak’s lips for a bit longer than necessary, memorizing the shape of them, no one had to know but him. Isak was staring down at him looking as hypnotized by Even as Even was by him, and all he wanted to do was lean forward and see if the icing tasted even sweeter on Isak’s lips than it had on the cinnamon rolls. When the tension got to be too much, however, he pulled away. 

“Are you staying here?” he asked instead, busying himself with straightening the blankets around him. Isak looked bereft at the loss of contact, but soon composed himself. 

“Do you want me to?” 

“I always want you here, Isak.” 

Isak smiled and then looked down at Even’s laptop sitting on the floor. “I want to stay,” he admitted, “But I need to study.” 

“You can study here,” Even offered, although he thought that should probably be obvious seeing as how it was what Isak had been doing all morning. “I won’t bother you. You’d just be wasting time on the commute back to your apartment. Unless you need something from there?” 

“No,” Isak sighed. “I would just need your computer. But don’t you have shit to study for too? I don’t want you failing your finals because of me.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Even shrugged. “The showcase was my final for two of my classes and my first exam next week isn’t until Wednesday. Stay here. Study. I’ll feed you at regular intervals so you don’t get too grumpy. Win-win.” 

Isak cocked a dubious eyebrow at him. “What are _you_ winning?” 

“You,” Even shrugged. He knew he should be embarrassed by it, but he just wasn’t it. “Your company.” 

Isak acquiesced easily and the two of them spent the day together in bed, Isak studying and Even watching _Narcos_ on mute with the subtitles on because he was looking for recommendations and Isak insisted that he watch it. Isak would ask him questions every so often and Even would answer them, even the ones that weren’t important. He fed Isak lunch and ordered him pizza for dinner and then, before he knew it, it was dark, Isak had been in his apartment for almost twenty-four hours straight, and it was time to say goodbye. 

He walked him to the door and kissed him on the forehead for good luck. “You’re going to do great,” he said into his ear. “And, hey, the next time you see me, I won’t be your TA anymore.” 

“Thank fuck,” Isak laughed, pulling away from him just far enough to look Even in the eyes. “The next time you see me, I’ll be yours. For real this time. Unless you’ve started teaching med school too.” 

Even snorted at the idea and then after one last longing look, Isak opened the door, gave Even a small wave, and then he was gone. It hurt to see him go—Even could feel the separation stretching him thin—but it was a little easier knowing that it would be for the last time. The next time Isak stepped through his door, he would never have to leave again. 

* 

Even spent Monday afternoon pacing the grad lounge nervously. Mikael was the one proctoring Isak’s final and it should have ended more than twenty minutes ago, but he couldn’t find him anywhere. He wasn’t sure why he was freaking out about it so much. He _knew_ Isak was done because he had sent Even a snap over an hour ago of himself giving the camera a thumbs up with the caption: _Done. Can we fuck now?_ Still, Even felt like he needed confirmation. He needed someone who was not Isak to tell him that yes, it was over. This hellishly long semester was finally over. 

It was another ten minutes before Mikael walked into the room. “What are you still doing here?” he groaned upon seeing Even. “Aren’t you supposed to be fucking your new boyfriend now?” 

“He’s done?” Even asked, glancing down at the thick stack of papers in Mikael’s hands. 

“Not only is he done,” Mikael said, dropping the papers haphazardly onto an empty desk and collapsing into a nearby chair, clearly exhausted. “But I went ahead and ran them through the Scantron machine, so they’re graded too. It’ll take me a couple hours to get them all into the computer, but it’s done, dude. You’re free.” Strangely though, Even didn’t feel free. Mikael huffed in annoyance at the look on his face. “What the fuck is it now?” 

“I just—” Even started, reaching across Mikael to shuffle through the already alphabetized Scantron print-outs. “I need to make sure his actually went through. That he’s not going to have to come back and re-take it or anything like that.” 

“Even,” Mikael laughed. “When has that ever happened before?” 

Even raised an eyebrow at him. “Have you seen my luck? Tell me it’s not possible.” Mikael grumbled at Even’s absurdity, but didn’t actually argue with the logic. 

When he finally pulled Isak’s test out of the stack, neatly graded, he breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re so ridiculous,” Mikael smiled, grabbing the slip of paper out of Even’s hands and crossing the room to a computer. Even didn’t understand what he was doing until their grading system was already up and running, but when he did, he watched eagerly over Mikael’s shoulder as he found Isak’s name and input his final grade before clicking the publish button. 

“There,” he said, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. “He’s out of the system. And Iversen posted our final grades for TA-ing this morning, so there is nothing left to connect you and this boy, Even. Go get your man.” 

He didn’t have to be told twice. He ran out of the room with an impossibly large grin on his face, already typing out a text to Isak. 

_Guess what?_

The response was immediate: _???_

_You made an A,_ he replied, still smiling. _And I’m not your TA anymore._

_I don’t know which of those things I’m happiest about._

Even rolled his eyes, but he was way too excited to play into Isak’s games today. Instead, he skipped straight to the important part: _Where are you?_

He walked hastily back to his apartment, expecting a quick response, but nothing came. “Come on, Isak,” he muttered down at his phone as he finally reached his building and started walking up the stairs to the third floor. They should have planned this before now because he didn’t want to wait, but he also had no idea where Isak lived. Or if he’d even be there. 

When he arrived on the landing in front of his apartment, however, he realized all his worrying had been for naught. Because there, sitting on the floor leaning against Even’s apartment door with his backpack at his feet, was Isak. 

He looked up at the sound of footsteps and gave Even a shy smile. “Hi,” he greeted, wringing his hands nervously in his lap. “I know I should have asked first—you probably have studying to do or something—but I thought maybe it would be a nice surprise?” 

Even couldn’t quite believe his luck. “You’re the best surprise,” he admitted, holding out his hand to help pull Isak up. The boy took it gratefully. He was dressed more casually than Even had ever seen him dress in public with a red snapback thrown on to hide his beautiful curls, ratty blue jeans, and an all too familiar T-shirt. “Is that my shirt?” Even laughed, looking down at it. 

Isak glanced down and grinned, pulling his hands into the sleeves like it was the most comfortable thing he owned. “No,” he countered. “It’s _my_ shirt—you gave it to me. But yes, technically it did once belong to you. I was trying to channel my inner film nerd.” 

Even reached out and brushed his hand over the worn fabric. “Well, it worked.” Without realizing he was doing it, he pulled Isak in by the hem of his shirt and Isak followed without question. 

“So I heard,” Isak agreed, tilting his head up and nuzzling his nose along Even’s jaw until their lips were mere centimeters apart. Even felt dizzy at the close contact and was just about to pull away out of habit, when he realized that he didn’t have to. Not anymore. 

“Hi,” he breathed against Isak’s lips, something settling in his stomach. This was it. This was the start of what they should have been months ago. 

Isak huffed out a small laugh. “Hi,” he agreed. Even wasn’t sure which one of them moved forward first, but the pull between them finally became too much to resist and the next thing he knew, his lips were on Isak’s, kissing him like it was the last thing he would ever do. Despite the passion, the kiss started off innocent enough. Within seconds, however, Even had Isak backed against his locked apartment door, licking into his mouth with all of the hunger he had been suppressing for months. 

Isak’s snapback had long since been knocked to the floor, and Even had his fingers tangled in the boy’s curls as he slowly worked his own beneath Even’s shirt. His skin felt like it was on fire where Isak was touching him and although he wouldn’t wish the last four months of separation on them again, there was something to be said for the desperation with which they were interacting now. Like their very souls were calling to each other. 

It was Isak who eventually tilted his head to the side to break the kiss. Even moved his lips to his jaw instead and starting laving kisses down the side of his neck. He could feel Isak’s pulse racing under his tongue and it sent a shot of desire straight to his dick. 

“Even,” Isak moaned, his fingers bunching up in the back of Even’s shirt. “While the PDA is ridiculously hot, I think I want to do this next part inside.” Even chuckled against his neck and backed away, leaving Isak leaning against the door, panting. 

“You’re going to have to move if you want me to open the door,” Even pointed out, but Isak just waved him off. 

“Give me a minute to catch my breath, asshole.” Even rolled his eyes and then worked to extract his key ring from his now painfully tight jeans. By the time he managed, Isak had moved to the side and grabbed his hat and backpack off of the floor, so Even turned the key in the lock and ushered him in. 

When the door slammed shut behind them, it felt like a chapter of Even’s life was coming to a close. He thought that he should probably be at least a little bit sad that he was graduating and moving out into the real world, but now that he had Isak, he just couldn’t be. The world felt too bright, too colorful, too full of possibilities for him to mourn what he had lost. 

Isak didn’t waste any time getting his lips back on Even and soon they were in his bed, clothes scattered all around the room, and he was opening Isak up on his fingers before pressing inside. The world narrowed down to just the two of them and it was quick and it was dirty, but they were both too excited to make it last. As Isak broke apart beneath him, giving Even another small piece of his soul, he looked into his beautiful, hypnotic green eyes and in them he saw his future. 

* 

Even’s graduation ceremony was scheduled for Saturday morning, but he had no intention of actually participating in it. Those ceremonies were long and boring and if he had to sit through one, he wanted it to be Isak’s on Sunday. 

When he told Isak that, however, the boy was not happy. 

“Even, no! This is my first chance to be a supportive boyfriend. You can’t just take that away from me!” 

“You came to my film showcase,” Even pointed out, kissing him on the cheek. “That was way more important to me.” Isak preened a little at that, but still didn’t seem satisfied. 

So that’s how Even found himself posing for pictures in front of the Media Studies building on Saturday afternoon, wearing the cap and gown that Isak had rented for his own ceremony. They weren’t the only ones hanging around. A lot of students had stopped by to take pictures after the ceremony was over, including Mikael and Adam, who berated Even for not attending the actual graduation but took pictures with him nevertheless. 

There were only a few families left lingering when Isak finally decided they had taken enough. “Your mom is going to love me,” he said, flipping through the photos on his phone. “I’m going to text her some—earn major brownie points.” 

Even rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to ask if they could leave now, when he heard a familiar voice from behind them. 

“Do you want me to take one of the two of you?” Even turned in surprise to find Dr. Iversen, his advisor and the professor for Isak’s Intro to Media Studies class, standing there with an amused grin on his face. 

“Hey,” Even greeted with a smile, trying to ignore how Isak was creeping behind him like a child who had done something wrong. He grabbed his arm and pulled him to his side. “Dr. Iversen, this is my boyfriend, Isak. Isak, this is my advisor, Dr. Iversen.” 

“Nice to meet you,” Isak squeaked out. The look Iversen gave Isak was appraising, like he might recognize him from somewhere, but if he did, he said nothing. 

“Likewise. So, about that picture?” Isak, it seemed, was happy to put aside his discomfort for one last picture, so he handed his phone to Dr. Iversen and they posed together in front of the building, arms wrapped around each others’ waists. “You must be proud of Even,” Iversen said as he aimed the camera. “Getting such a good job right after graduation. Not everyone can say that—especially not in this field.” 

“Oh, I’m so proud,” Isak gushed, looking up at Even lovingly, just as the shutter on the camera went off. Dr. Iversen took a few more before offering the phone back to the boys. 

“I’m proud of you too, Even,” his professor said softly when they were close enough to hear. “And I’ll see you when production starts in August. You boys have a nice summer.” 

They watched in silence as the older man walked away and when he was finally out of sight, Isak let out a sigh of relief. “Oh my god,” he said collapsing against Even. “I thought for sure he was going to bust us.” 

“For what?” Even laughed. 

“I mean, we weren’t exactly subtle during the semester,” Isak pointed out. “Do you think he remembers me from class? Can they retroactively expel you?” 

Even shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t really care if they did. All I needed out of this was a good job and I got that. And don’t flatter yourself. He teaches three classes of two hundred plus people. He doesn’t remember you.” Isak pouted at the insinuation that he wasn’t memorable and Even longed to assure him that to Even, he was the most unforgettable person on the planet, but he didn’t think now was the time. 

“Are you ready to go?” he asked instead. “We can go back to my place and…celebrate.” Isak smirked at his suggestive tone and nodded. Even took his hand in his and was just about to lead him away, when Isak seemed to change his mind. 

“Wait,” he said with an impish grin. “I’ve got a better idea.” He dragged Even across the empty yard to the front door of the media building. 

“Where are we going?” Even groaned. “Isak, you know we can’t get in there, right? It’s after hours. The doors won’t open unless you have key card access.” 

“ _You_ have key card access,” he pointed out. 

“I _did_ ,” Even agreed. “But I just graduated.” 

Isak waved him off. “You really think they update the system that fast? Just try it—please.” 

Even grumbled to himself, but he still seemed to have the inability to say no to Isak. It took him a minute to untangle himself from the graduation robe to get to his wallet, but when he finally found his key card and swiped it through the system, he wasn’t actually surprised that it worked. 

“Ha ha,” Isak exclaimed gleefully, grabbing the door and pulling it open. “Come on.” He took Even’s hand once again and climbed up stairs and down hallways until they got to the room Even taught lab in. He had a pretty good idea of where this was going and he was a strange mixture of turned on and mortified. 

“Isak,” he groaned. “What are we doing?” 

“Nothing,” Isak said innocently, reaching for the door handle. He tried to yank it open, but the door wouldn’t budge. 

“It’s locked,” Even pointed out unhelpfully as Isak pouted. “You’re supposed to lock it back after class so students can’t go in there and fuck.” 

Isak turned to face him, his pout now more prominent. He reeled Even in by the lapels of his robe and then wrapped his arms around his neck until he was pressed all along Even’s front and there was no mistaking the hardness in his pants. 

“Fuck, Isak,” he breathed. 

“You know where the key is though, don’t you?” Isak tried, blinking his long lashes up at him. Yeah, Even fucking knew where the key was. It was on his damn key ring. “Please?” He stepped closer between Even’s thighs so that he could use his hips to grind against him and Even could feel his resolve weakening. 

“Fuck,” he said again, pushing Isak away. Isak looked worried that he had pushed too far for only a second before Even spoke again, already digging through his pockets for the key. “Fine. Move out of the way.” 

Isak stepped to the side and Even fought with the door for a few more seconds before finally managing to get the thing unlocked. He held it open for Isak who let out another squeal of delight and rushed into the room, all smiles. 

Even followed him inside and then triple checked that the door had locked back behind him before walking to the front of the auditorium where Isak was already fiddling around with the electronics on the podium, turning a dim light on at the front of the room and raising and lowering the projector screen for fun. 

“Please don’t break anything,” Even begged. Isak smiled over at him and raised his hands innocently. “Isak, what are we doing here?” 

Isak stepped out from behind the podium and joined Even at the front of the room. He stood in front of him, smiling coyly, before reaching out to hold both of Even’s hands in his. “I want you to fuck me,” he said, and although Even had been expecting it, his cock still jerked in his pants. “Over that desk.” 

The desk he nodded at was an old wooden teacher’s desk sitting at the very front of the room. Even had never used it to teach behind, mostly because he hadn’t done much teaching to begin with, but he would set out graded papers there for the students to pick up on their way either in or out of the class. The offer was certainly tempting and Even would be lying if he said that it wasn’t something he’d fantasized about in graphic detail as he sat watching Isak in this same dark room, but there was something about the thought of fucking him here that just seemed wrong. 

“Look,” Isak said, dropping the overconfident bravado he’d been projecting and squeezing Even’s hands in reassurance. “I’m not asking you to spank me and tell me I’ve been a very bad boy. If you don’t want to do this, we won’t, but I spent a whole semester picturing you fucking me over this desk, so I thought I would ask.” 

Even looked around at the auditorium he was used to seeing full of faces. There was something exhilarating about the thought of fucking him here when he knew that in less than a week, a whole new set of students would sit in these same seats, staring down at a place where they had made love. Fuck, what was Isak doing to him? 

“You won’t call me ‘Professor’?” Even asked. Isak, sensing surrender, shook his head eagerly. “I’m serious, Isak. No role-play. If we’re doing this here, we’re doing it as Isak and Even, not—” 

“I get it,” Isak interrupted him, releasing his hands so that he could reach up to cup Even’s face, green eyes sparking with mischief. “Is that a yes?” 

Even sighed deeply and offered up his last objection, leaning into Isak’s touch as he did so. “I don’t have lube or a condom.” Without hesitation, Isak dug both items out of his pockets and threw them on the desk behind him. Even rolled his eyes. “You fucking planned this.” 

“Of course I planned this,” Isak scoffed. “Who do you think I am?” 

Even looked between the lube and Isak, but he could no longer deny the hardness in his pants. It was one of those things that he knew he would regret if he didn’t take the chance when it was offered to him. Fuck, they were doing this. 

“Fine,” he acquiesced. “But I’m not taking my clothes off in here, Isak. That’s too weird.” 

Isak nodded and then, before Even could even fully wrap his head around what they were about to do, Isak kissed him. He didn’t waste any time on soft, sweet kisses, but licked into his mouth immediately, setting Even’s blood on fire and burning his inhibitions to the ground. He picked Isak up and lifted him onto the wooden desk, lowering him down gently so that he was laying on top of it. Then Even climbed up after him. The desk creaked under his added weight, but it wasn’t protesting enough for him to stop. If the sound worried Isak at all, he certainly didn’t show it. He wrapped his legs around Even’s waist and used this new leverage to pull the older boy closer, his tongue still fighting for dominance in Even’s mouth. 

“Take this off,” Isak broke the kiss to say, leaning his head back against the desk, breathing heavily. 

“I just told you I wasn’t taking my clothes off,” Even objected, but then he noticed Isak’s fingers tangled in the black graduation gown that he was going to have to wear to his own ceremony the next day. Isak glared up him, unimpressed. 

“Take this off,” he repeated, unzipping the damned thing and pushing it off of Even’s shoulders. “I’m not graduating with cum stains on my gown.” Even, of course, did as Isak asked and tossed the gown over towards the podium. He was still watching to see where it landed when Isak latched his lips to Even’s neck and pulled him back in. 

They kissed on that desk until Even’s lips were swollen and his cock was rock hard. Beneath him, Isak was a mess, moaning Even’s name into his lips and dry humping the knee that he had placed between his legs. It wasn’t going to take either of them long. 

Seeming to sense that, Isak reached for Even’s zipper and pushed his pants down just far enough to release his cock from the confines of his boxers. Isak broke their kiss to look between them and then grabbed Even’s cock, already wet with pre-come, and gave it a few eager strokes. 

“Fuck,” he breathed into Isak’s neck. 

“Even,” Isak begged, finding his lips and giving him a gentle kiss. “I need you to fuck me now, okay?” 

Even nodded and forced himself to climb off of Isak and step back onto the floor. He almost tripped getting down from the desk, but aside from a small chuckle, Isak chose not to tease him for it. Isak sat up as well, kicking his feet over the edge and reeling Even in for one last long, slow kiss before he climbed down entirely and placed the lube and condom in Even’s hand. 

“You ready?” he asked, glancing down at Even’s cock that was still standing at full attention. 

“Yeah,” Even agreed, ripping open the single-use lube packet and smearing some onto his fingers. “How do you want to do this?” 

Isak smirked up at him and then made a show out of shimmying out of his pants. He pulled them down to his ankles and then kicked them off, finally setting his flushed cock free. Then he turned around and bent over the desk like it was nothing, leaving his ass on full display. 

“Fuck,” Even muttered because he couldn’t help it. Isak looked so beautiful laid out for him like that, fully exposed, and it still surprised him sometimes that this boy seemed to trust him so willingly. Isak looked over his shoulder at him and winked. 

Even used his hand that was not covered in lube to grip the base of his cock to keep himself from coming too soon, and then stepped forward and used his foot to kick Isak’s legs a little farther apart. It was only then that he realized he had run out of hands. 

“Fuck,” he said again. “Isak, can you—?” He didn’t even have to finish his sentence before Isak balanced himself on his chest and reached back with both hands to pull his ass cheeks apart. “Shit.” Despite Even’s tight grip on his cock, it made a valiant effort to twitch excitedly. This hadn’t been a good idea _at all._ He was going to come before he ever got inside of him. 

Figuring he should probably work fast to prevent that from happening, he reached out to circle a lubed finger around Isak’s hole, only to find that it was already slick for him. Confused, he pressed his finger past the rim and was surprised to find that it slipped in easily. 

“I did the hard part for you in the shower before we left,” Isak provided, his voice muffled slightly by the desk. “I should already be good, Even. Just make sure—” 

Even pulled his finger out and pressed back in with two, still finding no resistance. There was a little drag when he tried three, but after only a minute, Isak was fucking himself back onto his fingers and Even knew he was ready. 

“Fuck, Even, I’m good. If you keep doing that, I’m going to come.” 

So Even removed his fingers, wiping the excess lube on his dress slacks, and then rolled on the condom with shaking hands. His heart was racing in anticipation and excitement and, like Isak, he was already close to coming. He rubbed his dick against Isak’s entrance a few times, listening to him moan at the feel of it, and then, with Isak still holding himself open, he slowly pushed inside. 

Isak immediately released a low, guttural growl and let go of his ass cheeks to grip the front of the desk instead—and, yeah, that was a nice image. His toned ass and back were on display in front of Even, muscles straining as he clenched hard onto the edge of the desk for leverage. Even knew Isak liked this position because he had asked to fuck Even from behind a few days prior, but Even himself had never topped like this before—mostly because he preferred eye contact when he could get it. He hadn’t realized what he had been missing. 

He might not be able to _see_ Isak’s face, but the way the boy writhed underneath him, shoving back onto Even’s cock to force him in deeper—it was mesmerizing. So mesmerizing that Even forgot what he was supposed to be doing and instead watched as Isak did all the work, releasing his death grip on the desk with one of his hands to reach behind him and grab Even’s ass to pull him closer. 

“Fuck,” Even muttered, finally getting with the program and thrusting forward until he was completely buried in Isak’s body. And it felt good. Isak had told him you could thrust deeper in this position, but he hadn’t really believed that was possible until now. 

“Good, right?” Isak asked, smirking up at him, because even in the throes of passion, he was a little shit who got off on being right. Even snapped his hips forward to silence him, but if he’d meant it as a sort of punishment, it certainly didn’t work that way. Isak’s whole body shivered at the feel of it and he dropped his head onto his arms, exposing the back of his neck to Even. “Fuck, Even, right there.” 

Even picked up his speed, fucking into Isak’s tight body faster and faster, and Isak was so receptive to it. He moaned into the empty auditorium and it echoed through what felt like the whole building. The possibility of someone hearing them and coming to investigate, combined with the fact that when Even looked up, he was looking into an empty auditorium—an auditorium that he could easily picture full of people—and he was approaching his orgasm much faster than he’d meant to. The hair on his arms was standing on end, his senses hyperaware of his surroundings. 

“God, Even,” Isak said after one particularly hard thrust that sent the whole desk scraping forward on the floor. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this.” Even reached out and tangled his fingers gently in Isak’s hair, forcing him to stand up more so that Even could see his face. Seeming to know what he was aiming for, Isak turned to look at him over his shoulder, green eyes sparkling. “When I walked in here that first day, the first thing I thought was ‘oh shit’ and the second was ‘I hope he fucks me over that desk.’” 

Even huffed out a laugh. “You were that confident?” 

“That you were gonna—fuck—that you were gonna stay with me? That we were going to make it work? Yeah. Yeah, I was.” His voice was breathy, like it was taking him some effort to speak at all, and Even couldn’t fight it any longer. He grabbed Isak’s chest and pulled him flush against him so that he was standing now, arms braced on the desk in front of him, and Even thrust into him hard. 

“Isak,” he whimpered into the younger boy’s ear, not quite sure how to express the depth of that he was feeling. Isak dropped his head back on Even’s shoulder and mouthed at his neck. 

“Come on, Even,” he urged, rolling his hips to meet Even’s thrusts. “Come for me, babe. I’m right here. It’s okay.” As a rule, Even liked to make sure Isak came before him when he was topping, just like Isak did for him—he didn’t like to take without giving something back—but he knew his limit and he had reached it. He wasn’t even really thrusting anymore, just rolling his hips, desperately trying to bury himself deeper and deeper inside. Only a few seconds later, he felt Isak clench down around him and it pushed him over the edge. He came with a shout, harder than he ever had in his life, and Isak nursed him through it, whispering sweet nothings into his ear. 

When the world finally stopped spinning, Even did not hesitate to pull out of Isak, turn him around, and push him down onto the desk so that he was lying on his back. Isak leaned up on his elbows, grinning at Even slyly, but his smirk quickly dropped when Even fell to his knees in front of the desk and swallowed him down. 

His cock was already coated with salty pre-come and he was so hard, Even knew it had to be painful. It was the quickest, messiest blowjob Even had ever given in his life—there was no finesse to it at all—but if the sounds Isak was making were any indication, he was at least enjoying himself. He murmured Even’s name into the quiet auditorium lovingly and tangled his fingers in Even’s hair, guiding him lower without forcing. Even knew how Isak liked his blow jobs by this point, fast with a lot of tongue, and, ironically, he felt like he was taking a final exam, putting all of his theoretical knowledge into practice to get Isak off as fast as he could. 

It took less than a minute, surprising both Isak and Even, who got no warning at all before Isak grunted out in surprise and warm, sticky liquid spurted out onto his tongue. He swallowed it down without argument and stood to stare down at Isak, still lying on the wooden desk, chest heaving. 

“Good?” Even asked with a smirk, stepping between Isak’s thighs and offering him a hand to help him sit up. Isak took the hand gratefully and leaned forward, burying his sweat-damp face in Even’s dress shirt. 

“Fuck, Even, that was amazing. Can we do that again next week? How long is your key card good for?” 

Even let out a humorless laugh. “Uh, no,” he said, but he rested his chin on the top of Isak’s head to make sure he knew that he was by no means complaining. “You’re going to have to give me some time to recover from this first. Can you hear how fast my heart’s beating?” 

Isak chuckled against his chest and pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. “Public sex not your thing?” 

Even rolled his eyes. “Well, I didn’t _think_ it was.” 

“We’ll come back here again,” Isak decided. “On our tenth anniversary. We’ll hire a babysitter for the kids and we’ll come back here and have sex in an empty auditorium to spice up our married-people sex life.” 

Was it possible to get a heart boner? Because that’s what it felt like hearing Isak talk about their future so effortlessly—like it was inevitable. He smiled down at Isak and he knew he probably looked like a fool he was grinning so hard, but he was past the point of caring. Isak reached out and cupped his cheek in his hand. 

“You promise?” Even asked, his voice thick with emotion. 

Isak huffed out a laugh, but nodded. “Yeah. It’s a date.” 

Even leaned forward and kissed him one last time, thinking about all of the moments waiting for them between then and now. Even had spent a lifetime trying to find this boy, and what felt like another pining after him from afar. In a way, it felt like his real life was only just beginning: the life he would share with Isak. So he held him close and put everything he had into that kiss—the first kiss of the rest of forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't really think I was going to write a teacher-student AU without someone getting fucked over a desk, did you? 
> 
> Thank you everyone for giving this fic a chance. It was so much fun to write and the response has been amazing. All of your comments and kudos mean the world to me. 
> 
> Until next time... <3

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated <3


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